Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Arc of Legends
by ExDraco
Summary: In a world that's about to undergo an imminent apocalypse, a light of hope teams up with many friends to stop the one thing that could destroy everything they know and love.
1. Prologue: Stone of Fate

Arc Of Legends

Prologue: Stone of Fate

-3rd Person-

**Location: ?  
Date: ?  
Time: ?  
Historia: ?**

A single pokemon, evidently more powerful than the rest, stood out from the crowd that had gathered at the shrine, readily awaiting what was about to pass. This single pokemon, a Charizard, with wings as skin as black as night and eyes as red as blood, approached the center of the shrine with little hesitation. With each step, he walked up the fading stone steps, and the pokemon surrounding the ancient shrine began to fall silent, as he reached the top step of the flight of stairs. With a deathly silent encompassing the area, the Charizard approached the center crystal, shining dimly in the ray of light that had managed to enter the insides of the sacred place.

The Charizard soon stood in front of the crystal, radiant as the shining sun, as he placed his claws on the crystal and closed his eyes, feeling energy from the crystal pour into him. The pokemon that stood around him stayed still and silent, waiting for the words that would finally set their minds at ease. And as the Charizard began to glow a bright white aura, those words came.

_D.L. 2021, The folds between worlds shall weaken, and the barriers surrounding Lyeris will shatter, leaving the world unguarded. The Pokemon of Lyeris will remain ambiguous, as unprecedented danger approaches their land._

_D.L. 2023, A power beyond imagining will enter Lyeris, breaking through the boundaries of the world, and bring about chaos to the Pokemon of Lyeris, tyranny and oppression with it. They will call themselves 'Degenerated'. The Pokemon of Lyeris will suffer for a full cycle of the seasons, and in this time, the war to liberate the Pokemon shall persist._

_D.L 2024, The Land That Shall Bring Light will be destroyed by an entity of destruction, setting a darkened period for the Pokemon of Lyeris. The sun shall be covered by a mass darkness, once again bringing about the chaos that was experienced in the Shadow Age. It is in this perilous time when a small light will persist, to fight against the darkness._

_D.L. 2026, The power held by The Land That Shall Bring Light is harnessed by a scion, bringing about devastation to the Degenerated, and sealing the darkness beneath the depths of Lyeris. This marks the end of the war._

_D.L. 2027, The Degenerated continue to suffer in their inescapable prison, while the mass darkness they leave behind will continue to shroud the planet in cold and darkness. A solution will soon be found, but not powerful enough to rid the world of the taint, only one half. The Pokemon of Lyeris will then take up arms and fight for The Crystal of Genesis, and split themselves into two factions._

_D.L. 2028, The war will continue to persist until one has truly claimed victory over the other, whilst the plague of the darkness shall continue to bring disease and death upon the Pokemon. Out of desperation is born new technology to protect the Pokemon from their imminent demise, and the war continues to persist, as the search for The Crystal of Genesis continues._

_D.L. 2030, The war will leave more than half of the population dead, and many innocents will be killed in the search for The Crystal of Genesis. From this, the two opposing factions shall call for a cease-fire, and they will work together to find a way to make use of their limited resources._

_D.L. 2033, The plague of the darkness persists, killing more and more Pokemon by the day. Technology will advance to the point where Pokemon will live in protected cities, leaving The Outrealms to decay and disease. The Pokemon will continue to suffer for a full cycle of the seasons, as their limited resources continue to diminish._

_D.L. 2035, A young prodigy shall be born, he will be of peasant blood, a water-type species, and he will bring about peace to the two factions. Meanwhile, the plague of darkness persists, but no longer affecting the citizens of Lyeris, becoming a part of life._

_D.L. 2049, Peace shall finally reign in the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius, as the young prodigy approaches an ancient underground city of light, seeking a way to purify the taint, liberating his Pokemon of the endless plague. There, salvation shall be found using a forbidden power, clearing the sky of darkness and bringing unprecedented prosperity to the two nations, as the prodigy loses his life in the process._

_D.L. 2050, The world of Lyeris shall be on the road to full recovery, and Pokemon shall return to their normal lives. Peace persists, as the darkness stays trapped within the depths of the Abyss, and the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius will enjoy prosperity and undisturbed peace for a full cycle of the seasons._

_D.L. 2051, The Degenerated shall reappear from the depths of the void, capturing many innocent Pokemon and enslaving them, as the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius once again take up arms to fight the bringers of chaos. The Degenerated will grow stronger by the day, and the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius shall continue to fight._

_D.L. 2052, The Degenerated will retreat into the depths of the Abyss, while the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius will blame each other for each kingdom's losses. War shall once again persist between the two nations, inflicting atrocities upon the land of Lyeris and its citizens._

_D.L. 2054, The land of Lyeris shall be turned to deserts and desolate lands, with the citizens of Lyeris now forced to hide underground in fear of the dangerous lands above. In this desperate time shall be born a scion of temporal power. He will have irises of gold, with no name to call his own, a symbol of time attached to his arm._

_D.L. 2058, A weapon of mass destruction shall be set upon the land by the kingdom of Alfrius, staining the fields of Kyulius with the blood of its citizens, covering the land bright red. Out of desperation, the Pokemon of Kyulius shall elect a king of a psychic-type species, and the war shall begin its darkest stage._

_D.L. 2068, The young scion of temporal power will lead his Pokemon to the city of ancients, seeking a way to end the war between the two factions. There, the young scion will be enveloped in time and turn power to calamity, destroying himself and the city, and warping the world's temporal forces._

_D.L. 2070, The Pokemon of Lyeris will begin to form Groups of Fellowship, and tackle the Realms Wrapped In Secrets, as the temporal and spatial warps begin to become more and more serious. The war between Alfrius and Kyulius continues to persist, as more and more Pokemon strive to stay alive._

_D.L. 2072, The plague of the Realms Wrapped In Secrets shall prevent war between the two nations for a full cycle of the seasons. Meanwhile, the Groups of Fellowship will continue to explore, and soon find many ancient artifacts hidden within them._

_D.L. 2073, A revolution shall begin against the kingdoms of Alfrius and Kyulius, the peasants of Lyeris and the Groups of Fellowship shall march towards the kingdom of Alfrius. After salvaging what they can from the ruinous battlefields, the Revolution Forces shall surround the fortress capital. Within a week, the capital shall fall, and the Revolution Forces shall conquer the kingdom of Alfrius. The howls of victory shall resound throughout the land. _

_D.L. 2074, The Revolution Forces, now occupying the kingdom of Alfrius, shall march northward towards the kingdom of Kyulius. The army of pokemon shall stain the Kyulian throne with the blood of its last emperor, and a mountain of corpses shall bury the fortress capital. The darkness of the abyss shall envelop the Kyulian capital in a plague of death and disease. This shall mark the true end of Kyulius._

_D.L. 2078, The Revolution Forces will begin to restore the land of Lyeris, hoping to bring back its former beauty. In the desolated land of Kyulius is born a single Degenerated Halfling, a Pokemon of darkness. Whilst the world prospers, the miasma of darkness continues to shroud the ruins of the Kyulian capital._

_D.L. 2089, The rest of the world shall continue to enjoy prosperity while the Kyulian plague grows. Ultimately, the plague will be brought into the land by a Degenerated Halfling, which will bring disease and despair upon the Pokemon of Lyeris, killing all within its reach. The miasma born thence shall be a new poison unto the citizens of Lyeris, its spread marking the true end of prosperity._

_D.L. 2092, The citizen of Lyeris will take shelter and sanctuary inside what remaining structures are left. The Pokemon will continue to fall prey to death as they continue to inhale more and more of the plagued air each day. Through this is reborn the technology of protection, blocking out large amounts of the diseased miasma from the ruined cities._

_D.L. 2095, The citizens of Lyeris strive to survive, with the plague once again covering the sky in a cloud of darkness. From this Dark Age, the Degenerated once again arise from the depths of the void, killing all who dare to stand in their way. Half of the remaining citizens shall be enslaved by the Degenerated, with no hope of salvation._

_D.L. 2098, A legendary force shall look upon the desolate land of Lyeris, a destructive force by the name of Arceus. The god of creation shall then shroud himself in crystal, preparing his energies. Meanwhile, the Degenerated continue to rule the land of Lyeris, as small revolutionary forces continue to fight back._

_D.L. 2099, The darkness persists, as the Degenerated continue their atrocious acts upon the Pokemon of Lyeris. Many citizens of Lyeris shall resort to thieving and banditry to survive, whilst others simply commit suicide. Meanwhile, the rest prepare to secretly celebrate a centennial fair._

_D.L. 2100, Arceus shall release his Judgment upon Lyeris on this day, as the centennial fair comes to a close. Thus shall Lyeris be destroyed by his wrath and turned to dust, along with the Degenerated. This is the end of Lyeris._

The Charizard then slowly removed his hands from the center crystal, and the silence now became deafening as he turned around to face the crowd.

"My friends, as you can see, this is the Fate that has been read, time and time again. However, today is the year D.L. 2116, and as you can see, we are all still here. The end of Lyeris does not necessarily mean all of us will die. Yes, Lyeris has been reduced to dust, and reconstruction of our land has yet to begin, but one day our salvation will come. The Fate that has been read stops at D.L. 2100, so our future has yet to be decided. You must not lose faith, my friends." The Charizard spoke.

Murmurs of agreement and discussion broke out among the crowd, before the entire cluster of Pokemon cheered in hopes that what the Charizard's words would be true. Laughter and smiling appeared on the faces of Pokemon for the first time in decades, and for once the Charizard was happy.

_I know what will happen. For the Fate doesn't just stop at D.L. 2100. I know for sure what will happen, since I have already read the Forbidden Fate._

"Now, get some rest, my friends." The Charizard said loudly, "Tomorrow, we shall head out to scavenge for food, and hopefully find some water."

The crowd of Pokemon abided by the Charizard's words, and soon they were all tucked in and asleep, sleeping soundly as the worry on Charizard's face remained. Out of the crowd, and from the darkness of the ruined shrine came one lone Pokemon that walked up to the Charizard.

"Peleus. The Fate doesn't just stop at D.L. 2100, does it?" The Feraligatr asked.

"Well, well. If it isn't my old friend. What brings you here, Evan?"

"Like I said, the Fate doesn't stop at D.L. 2100, does it?"

"Well, you found me out," Peleus said, his voice become more serious, "Yes, the Fate doesn't stop at D.L 2100."

"Would you care to tell me what it says?" Evan asked.

"…Fine. Follow me."

Peleus then led Evan through the crowd of Pokemon, and to another section of the ruined shrine. In the dimly lit room, Peleus pulled a book out from a bookcase, opening a staircase that led underground. Evan stayed skeptical, but Peleus motioned for him to follow, and the two fully evolved pokemon trod down the steep steps, using Peleus' tail flame to light the dark area. Soon, they had reached the bottom of the steps, which ended with another, even darker room. Peleus shot a strong Flamethrower around the room, lighting up the metal lamps that were hung on the walls.

In the middle of the room stood another crystal, about the same size as the crystal Peleus was reading just a few minutes ago. Peleus approached the crystal as Evan stood at the side, leaning against the wall and eagerly waiting to hear the Fate. The Charizard pressed his claws onto the crystal and began to glow once more, and he began to read.

_D.L. 2103, Out of the ashes of the desolated Lyeris shall be born a new power, one that will one day bring the land of Lyeris to unprecedented prosperity. This new power shall be one of legend, gifted to a chosen few, known as the Arc of Legends. _

_D.L. 2104, The surviving Pokemon of the desolation shall learn of the rumors of this new power, and seek to find a way to identify these chosen ones, gifted with these legendary powers. From the ashes and ruins of Lyeris, the Realms Wrapped In Secrets shall reappear, trapping various citizens within its boundaries._

_D.L. 2107, The First Arc of Legend appears before the Pokemon, taking its form in the body of a little boy of a fighting-type, gifted with the power of the legendary firebird, Moltres. His power shall rain fire from the heavens unto the land of Lyeris and its Pokemon, destroying most of what is remained. Thereafter, he is then destroyed by his own power, taking many innocent lives along with him. This plunges the Pokemon of Lyeris into further despair._

_D.L. 2110, The search for the Arc of Legends shall persist, as the citizens of Lyeris reinvent the barrier technology that will protect them from the infinite desolation. Meanwhile, the Lyerian Pokemon create a single remaining city out of the ashes, a land by the name of Fraxinus, dubbed the ash of the land of light. Large populations will flock towards the city, seeking shelter and asylum._

_D.L. 2113, The Second Arc of Legends appears inside the city of Fraxinus, manifesting within a teenage girl of a flying-type, gifted with the power of the rainbow bird, Ho-oh. With her powers, the girl shall bring warmth and heat back to the planet, negating the cold effects of the darkness covering the sky._

_D.L. 2116, From the dimensional walls shall appear a creature like none other, gifted with another Arc of Legends. This creature shall bring true prosperity to the land of Lyeris, altering Fate and Time. This marks the end of Dawn._

"What does this mean?" Evan questioned.

"It means, that someone is due to appear this year." Peleus said, as he stepped away from the crystal, the reading of the Fate already taking its toll on him.

"Yes, but why does the Fate stop at this year? Shouldn't it continue?"

"My guess is… that someone is about to change history as we know it."

* * *

Surprise, surprise. I'm actually doing a PMD story! Now, I know it doesn't sound like a PMD story right now, but trust me, once I get the first few chapters done, it'll make a lot more sense. So stay with me until I'm done with the first few chapters. This prologue's a little short, so I'm hoping that the first chapter will be a lot longer. Now…

EXCLAMATION: First person to notice the story gets priority for OCs! When the OC form comes out, that is.

Risk: That's unfair!  
X: Oh, can it. I'm trying to do a hidden survey here. Now, shush.


	2. Chapter 1: Lost

Arc of Legends

Prelude: Beginnings

Chapter 1: Lost

-?-

**Location: Lyeris Sector 36  
Date: Inciday, Prieam-Efliriux 32, D.L. 2116  
Time: 4:19 PM  
Historia: Present**

"Where… where am I?"

I opened my eyes, a slit-like view slowly widening to a full peripheral view. A wind blew in my eyes, forcing me to squint even as I woke. Aches overwhelmed my body, which now seemed to have shrunk… With much effort, I somehow managed to heave my body off the ground, as a sudden pain struck my head and my eyes, with my hands instinctively clutching my head as my body began to find balance again. With the temporary 'sickness' over, I took one long look at where I was.

'A desolate land' could not even begin to describe this place. In all, it really looked like nothing but the aftermath of a devastating planet-wide attack. The whole place seemed to be a desert, except that in the place of sand was dust, and in the place of sandstorms were area-wide dust storms that looked as if radiation was surrounding the place. The winds blew against my face, dust covering my cheeks and my eyes, as I constantly squinted with my hands covering my eyes from the direction of the wind.

I continued looking around, hoping to find some form of civilization. After all, no matter how much I would be willing to try, dust wouldn't be able to talk back. And this howling, endless wind wasn't a very nice place to be lying around asleep. And yet, in the winds accompanied by dust and endless land, I saw no traces of city or even structure to speak of.

_How depressing… How did I get here, anyway?_

"Are you just going to continue standing there?" I heard a voice say.

Shocked, I spun around, only to find the most unimaginable thing in the world speaking to me. It was a small, blue canine, with black legs and torso, with a blue tail and a yellow collar. It had rounded silvery bumps on the backs of its… paws. It had a black mask of fur, and distinct cyan eyes with a lighter shade than the rest of its fur. It wore loose bandages on its left arm, with the bandages becoming tighter as it climbed up its arm. In its left eye, though faint and dim, was a symbol like none other, a sword of blue as if it had been carved into its eye, almost blending in with its cyan irises.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Scratch that, replace all those 'its' with 'he' and 'his', since he clearly had a masculine voice and sort of a warrior's vibe to him. Maybe it was because of all those scars that had been placed along his right arm, peeking through the white bandages that covered it.

"Erm… You're a… Pokémon."

"Well, what an astound observation, Captain Obvious," I heard him say with a sarcastic tone, "Perhaps you would like a medal for your achievement?"

"Well, Pokémon don't talk. I know that for sure. All they do is repeat their names over and over again." I replied, a bitter tone now laced in my voice.

"Now that's a strange think to say, considering that you're a Pokémon."

"What do you mean? I'm not a-" And that's when I realized it.

Where my hands should've been, was a sort of reptilian hand with three fingers, covered in green skin. My feet imitated those features, having three digits, and my stomach was completely covered in red, so was my throat, for that matter. A line stretched across my stomach, like some form of screwed up pouch. I then felt something move just around my butt, and then I looked back, with my eyes widening as I saw a tail with two separate lobes.

"Wait a sec… What the hell?!"

"What? You sound surprised to see you're a Treecko. Sure, I was surprised the first moment I saw you, since Treecko are supposed to be extinct, but still." He cocked his head to the side questioningly.

_I probably shouldn't mention that I'm a human… It's my only memory, but I think the only thing it'll do is cause me trouble here._

"Yeah… sorry, but I'm kinda having a little amnesia. I can't remember how I got here or who I am. Guess I was just a little freaked out, that's all." I managed to blurt out.

"Huh. So, you're an amnesiac, huh? Do you at least remember your name? Or at least something I can call you by?"

"Hmm… I can only remember that my name started with an 'R', but that's it."

"Alright, 'R', why don't you come with me? It's obvious you won't have a chance of survival outside of the Protect Walls, so follow me. I'll get you some shelter."

"Thanks." I said, before hearing my stomach growl.

"Heh, don't mention it. And we should see about getting you some food too. Anyway, my name's Kai." He stretched out his left paw, "Nice to meet you."

"Thanks, Kai."

"Well, then. Let's get back to my place, and then we can see about getting you supplies, and maybe a name."

"Okay!"

And so I followed the Riolu, with the thoughts of a million questions flying around my head. The classic 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?' were some examples that came to mind. Obviously, I wouldn't be getting any answers any time soon, so I really had no other choice but to follow and trust Kai in the mean time. Kai seemed to know where he was going, despite what looked like the endless desert. He constantly looked up and down, checking the sky and ground, and I swore I could've noticed his eyes glow a bit every time he looked up and down. Maybe he was scanning Aura or something.

Within ten minutes, or at least, it felt that long, since I really had no way of telling time in this desolate wasteland, we arrived at a stone structure, one that seemed to be three-quarters destroyed, but still managed to stay standing and looked to be quite the good shelter from the storms. Kai walked in without much haste, and I followed him. Or at least, that's what would've happened, if I didn't literally smash my face into an invisible wall.

"Ow! What the hell?" I said, rubbing my head as I reeled back from the sudden impact.

"Oh, that's right. You don't have the runes yet. My bad, really sorry for not remembering. Here, I'll do it now." He cleared his throat, and an aura of energy surrounded him.

_**"O dome of protection, grant our visitor safe passage." He chanted.**_

And suddenly a force field in a semi-circular shape appeared, seemingly to have been surrounding and protecting the area this whole time. The protection barrier then opened a door-like opening in front of me, as Kai motioned for me to follow him in, which I did, as the opening closed with my entrance. Kai then took the lead once more, leading me through crowds of sleeping Pokémon, some curled up, some just lying on the floor, but all of them sound asleep. In the center of the room was an altar of some sort, with a giant clear crystal placed atop it.

Kai seemed to ignore it, going around it and avoiding the sleeping Pokémon as he maneuvered through the room, careful not to make a sound. I tried to do the same, although I probably would have woken everybody up if he weren't there to stop my frequent falling. Acrobatics and stealthy movements really wasn't my thing. Soon, we managed to reach the other side of the room without waking a single soul up, and Kai continued through the corridor, leading me to an empty room on the other side.

I stood around, pacing as I admired and imagined how majestic this place would've been before its destruction. I could see in my mind, a room covered in white walls and famous paintings adorning the walls like accessories. But a thudding sound brought me back to reality, as Kai slammed his palm onto a single tile in the room, revealing a symbol on it. The symbol soon faded, and Kai stood up from his kneeling position.

"And now we wait." He said.

And so, we waited. For a good two minutes, nothing happened, and I had already gotten comfortable leaning on the walls of the room, as Kai stood there, upright with his hands crossed over his chest, as he impatiently waited for something to happen. And then it did, the tile that Kai had placed his palm on, along with the nine tiles surrounding it, opened up as a trapdoor, revealing a flight of stairs underneath. What was even more surprising was the person, no, Pokémon that came from the darkness. A majestic Charizard, with a tail of blue flames and eyes of silvery grey, along with a wise old man sort of atmosphere about him.

"Well, well, Kai. You've been a naughty boy, haven't you?"

"Sorry, dad. I just wanted to see if I could find any supplies." Kai drooped his head in shame, which was the first time in the thirty minutes I had known him he had done that.

The Charizard simply chuckled and patted his claw on the Riolu's head, and said, "Well now, don't feel bad. I know your intentions were good, just be more careful in the future. Now, who might we have here?" The Charizard looked over at me.

"Nice to meet you." I mumbled.

"Not a very friendly lad, is he? Especially for a human, and I thought them to be friendlier than most of our Pokémon species."

Kai's eyes widened at that statement, and my body reeled back in pure shock as the Charizard said his words.

_Wait… He knows I'm human? How's that even possible!?_

"How about we discuss this in my quarters? It certainly -0is a much better place for discussion." The Charizard then turned and walked off and down the stairs, into the darkness whilst his footsteps soon became a faint sound.

"You're human?" Kai asked.

"…Would it change anything if I said it was true?"

"Not really. But it would explain a lot of things. Like how you acted when you found out you were a Treecko."

"Yes, I'm human. So what? It's not like I remember enough to prove it."

"If my dad says you're human, then you are. It's rare that his words are wrong, after all. C'mon, we don't want to keep him waiting." Kai then turned and walked down the stairs.

_How could he act so nonchalant about this? I just told him something that should be impossible!_

I followed suit, as the panel closed and the flight of stairs was completely shrouded in darkness. I panicked for a bit, when Kai grabbed my hand and pulled me along, as the lamps that were placed in holes in the wall began to produce light, enough to keep me walking. I soon caught up to Kai, now unafraid of falling down the stairs.

"So, Kai. Where are we?"

"Oh, we're now in Lyeris- Sector 36. These ruins are just where our group of survivors have taken refuge in."

"Sector 36? You make it sound like the whole of your world is ruled by machines."

"First of all, our world is Lyeris. Secondly, its not ruled by machines, but it might as well be. It'd be way better that having the Emissaries of Arceus hunting us." Kai explained, albeit slightly impatiently.

"Okay…"

After that, our walk down the steps continued in silence, since Kai made it clear he didn't want to explain any more to me. Without having to walk down too many flights of stairs, we eventually reached the bottom, and it was way more fancy compared to the rest of the ruinous area.

It was a brightly lit room with everything a fancy bunker I assumed would have. Stuffs like an actual table and chairs, and several bookshelves placed around the room. There was even a pile of coal in one corner, with the pile lit on fire and boiling a pot of water hung on a rod of metal. The Charizard I had seen before was busy taking out a book from one of the bookshelves, placing it on the table, and then busying himself with the pot of water that he had just boiled.

"Well, you two took so long to walk down, I though I'd put on some tea."

"Not the tea again, dad! You know how much I hate it!"

"Oh, cool it, Kai. You know tea is a rarity in these days. Besides, it's Alemos Tea. It's good for your health and boost fighting stamina. You should consider drinking it."

"Fine." Kai ended the conversation with a bitter tone.

"Oh, and Treecko, would you like some? We have a lot to talk about."

"…Risk."

"Hmm?" The Charizard questioningly replied.

"Call me Risk. It's a nice name, in my opinion. Since I don't remember mine, might as well give myself a new one."

"Alright then, Risk, why don't you sit down and try the tea, and I'll explain everything you want to know."

I took the Charizard up on his offer, plopping myself on one of the wooden chairs and sitting at the table beside Kai, who had an frustrated look on his face as he sipped his tea. An expression that really didn't match what he was drinking, considering that tea was supposed to be calming. The Charizard took the pot of tea and poured some into a cup, before offering it to me. I took the cup gladly and began sipping on the tea, which had a lemony taste to it.

"It's good."

"Glad you think so." The Charizard replied, before sitting down on the opposite side of the table, facing Kai and I, and he continued, "Now, whatever questions you may have, ask away. I will do my best to answer them."

"First of all, how did you know I was a human?"

"Well, it was written in the Fate."

I turned to Kai for answers, who somehow managed to put down his tea and take a deep, calming breath, before gathering up his patience to explain the terms that the Charizard was using.

"The Fate is what you humans would call a 'prophecy', foretelling our past, present and future in the form of Terrests, what we call energy particles. These Terrests solidify into 'Crystals', which Fate Readers, like my dad," He paused, gesturing to the elderly Charizard, "can read."

I nodded my head in understanding, before asking again, "Can you tell me more? About how I got here?"

"I'm afraid not, Risk. The Fate foretells so: D.L. 2116, From the dimensional walls shall appear a creature like none other, gifted with another Arc of Legends. This creature shall bring true prosperity to the land of Lyeris, altering Fate and Time. This marks the end of Dawn."

"What's the… Arc of…"

Kai butted in with his explanation, despite his obvious bitter tone and thin patience, "The Arc of Legends are an ancient power that allows Pokémon like us to tap into a portion of the Legendary Pokémon's power, giving the few chosen ones abilities like none other."

"Okay… so does that mean that the 'creature' is me?"

"Well, I myself am not sure. My interpretation of the Fate is not a very clear one, especially this portion of it. I searched through what resources I had, to find what manner of creatures could survive in our world, but had never arrived. The only one that stood out from the rest was a human." The Charizard explained.

"So, if the one depicted in the 'Fate' is truly me, then which Legendary Pokémon do I have the power of?"

The Charizard seemed like he was about to explain, but then Kai butted in with his own words again, not even lifting his eyes from his cup of tea.

"You seem to be taking all this pretty well for a human. If I were a human turned into a Pokémon, I'd probably be expressing a whole lot of panic and shock, unlike you. You seem like you've been expecting this to happen."

"Huh? No, that's not it… It's just…. Well, I don't know how I should react. I'm in an unknown world, with no recollection of who I was before I came here, and all I can look to is explanations. What else am I supposed to do?"

"If you asked me," The Charizard spoke, drawing both Kai's and my attention to him, "I believe you are here to change our fate. You obviously possess either the Arc of Dialga or the Arc of Celebi, since the Fate explicitly states that you are going to alter time."

"So which one? I don't know."

"We'll find out, in due time. But for now-"

A loud 'boom' noise came from outside the room, from upstairs, an explosion that shook the whole area, causing dust to fall from the ceiling and one of the less unstable parts of the wall to crumble, leaving only a dirt wall behind. Another explosion, and screams could be heard from just above us, the sounds of dying and suffering Pokémon.

"Damn it! The Arceains are here!"

"Arceains?"

"They're the Emissaries of Arceus, bonehead! They're here to hunt us all down! I've got to go help them!" Kai blurted out as he began to rush up the staircase, bent on aiding the suffering Pokémon.

The Charizard grabbed Kai's paw as Kai reached the steps, and said, "No, Kai. Risk is here as our salvation. It is imperative we protect him from the Arceains. You will take him, and run far away from here, out of their reach. I will go up and save our people."

"But-"

"No buts, Kai. Take him and run, now." The Charizard bent down to Kai's height and planted a kiss of his forehead, before continuing, "Stay safe. Now, run!"

The Charizard continued towards the steps as Kai turned back and grabbed my hand, pulling me along, evident that he wanted me to start running, and I was happy to oblige. Kai lead me down one of the more obscure tunnels, and we continued running through the sand and dust that I had already grown accustomed to. The darkness of the corridor soon ended with the faint light of the outdoors, as we burst out into the open, covered in sand and as the dust storms blew past our eyes, we emerged twenty meters away from the ruins that once protected us.

Kai then pulled me along, making it clear that it wasn't safe to stop moving. I watched as distant explosions created spheres of fire beyond the storm of sand and dust, while Kai was trying his best not to look back as he pulled me along, clearly on the verge of tears. We travelled the desolated land, hoping to find a place to rest for the night, for the sun had long set and the moon was already high in the sky, casting its silver glow over the desert. As luck would have it, we soon found a place to rest and hold up for the night, another ruined place with stone pillars that would provide minimal protection against the never-ending storm.

"You stay here and take a breather. I'll set up the protection field."

"Okay."

I slowly sat down behind the safety of the stone pillar, as I watched Kai grab a couple of round stones from his sling bag and walked in a circle around the stone ruins, dropping five stones in different locations. I heard his chant a faint incantation, and I heaved a sigh of relief as I felt the dust storms halt, with the strong winds blocked out by the protection field. Kai returned, sitting down just across from me and leaning his back against a stone pillar, grabbing whatever rations he had from his sling bag and splitting the food between the two of us.

I took the food from his paw, and a simple 'Thanks.' was all I said before munching on the sandwich. Kai soon started biting into his sandwich as well, leaning on one hand with the food in the other. His eyes seemed to drift off to a faraway place, and he kept gazing at the sky, as if remembering a distant memory. I envied him to an extent, considering that I had no memories to speak of and whatever human life I had before arriving in Lyeris was all but forgotten.

Still, that didn't seem to stop my mind from wandering. As I subconsciously munched on the sandwich, my mind busied itself by asking all sorts of questions again. I found myself staring at the ground, with my gaze occasionally shifting to the night sky, while Kai silently stared at the stars dotting it. Eventually, it was evident that the silence was unbearable, and Kai, of all Pokémon, was the one to break the mold.

"So, Risk. How're you dealing with all this?" He asked, which elicited a questioning sound from me, as I continued munching on the almost-finished sandwich.

"I mean, you've been whisked here from who-knows-where, and you have no memories, and now you're being hunted by unknown creatures. Anyone normal would be freaking out right about now."

"Well," I managed to say, before taking my last bite and swallowing the remnants of the bread, "Sure, I suppose I should be panicking right now… But… I don't know, I just think that panicking wouldn't really help the situation. Besides, I'm already imposing enough on you as it is, panicking wouldn't really help you, rather create more trouble, and we already have enough. Thanks for saving me, by the way."

"I didn't save you because I wanted to!" Kai interrupted, "It's because my dad told me to. If not, I'd be fighting for my people right now…" Kai drooped his head in deep thought.

"But if you'd gone to fight, don't you think you'd be dead right now?" I asked, cocking my head to the side in question.

"What would you know-"

"Look," I interrupted, "I don't know who I am, much less who you are or why I'm here, or even why I appeared just in time for you to meet me back there, but I do know this. We're stuck together for now, and you've already saved my life twice. So, no matter what you say, I'm not going to let you die for me, or for anyone. After all," I paused, before standing and turning my back on him, "we're friends, aren't we?"

"Friends…" I heard him utter.

"So, stop doubting yourself. What's done is done."

"You're right. Thanks, Risk." He said, maintaining a serious expression nonetheless.

"No problem." I turned around and said.

"Why don't you get some rest? I'll take first watch, in case those Arceains try to ambush us."

"Thanks, Kai." I managed to say, before collapsing on the ground and my eyelids suddenly felt heavy, granting me a peaceful sleep.

* * *

-Kai-

**Location: Lyeris Sector 34  
Date: Inciday, Prieam-Zexirius 32, D.L. 2116  
Time: 5:12 PM  
Historia: Present**

_Honestly… Two seconds, just two, and he's out cold… Hopefully, I won't have to shake him awake. Doubt I can do it anyway._

I leaned against the stone pillar, the cooling feeling of my fur against the solid rock reminding me of some good memories. The only ones I had in this apocalyptic world. I closed my eyes, reminiscing about the past, whilst using my hearing in place of my sight to do my job as a watcher. My mind and sight drifted back, to the first memory I could obtain from my childhood. Somewhere when I was six or seven.

In those days, I was already hard at work while other young children were busy trying to survive. After all, I was constantly referred to as the 'adoptive child of Peleus'. As much as I hated that title, everyone still called me by my real name, so it wasn't too bad. Kai… I'd known that to be my name ever since Peleus first called me by it. It was the only memory from my birth and the Day of Judgment. I still remember, dust and sand pelting against my infant face… a warm, fuzzy image of a large Pokémon, picking me up in his arms… a warmth like none other, a warmth that felt significant in the infinite cold that surrounded the land of Lyeris back then… and then, the name Kai.

It was my name, and mine alone. I loved to be called that name by Peleus back when I was still a child. He did most of the work until I'd grown old enough to help out. So, back then, it was still fun and games to me. Everyday, I'd question where he was going, but he said I didn't need to know. I was annoyed, but then he'd return a couple hours later, distributing food and water, and somehow my childhood self deemed wherever and whatever he was doing important.

Even with all his duties, somehow he managed to squeeze in time to raise me as a single parent. I'd sometimes ask if I was a burden to him, but then he'd laugh it off and suggest we play a game. He had tons of board games in that lightweight pack. 'Board games remind me of the time before that Day, and gives me hope. That's why I like playing them.' He had said. And, eventually, I'd learned to live by that too.

Of course, not the part about board games, they were fun, but I'd never refer to them as a source of hope. I'd always find hope in believing that everything would be fine, the way he had said it to be. Always believing the situation would improve, always believing that our little group of refugee Pokémon would be able to survive. And through that belief, I found hope. At about the age of 13, I started helping out with the menial chores to lighten the load on Peleus. Though I doubted it helped our situation as a whole, he always seemed appreciative.

_Sometimes, I wonder if I can be like him… appreciative and patient, and always willing to look of the positive side of things. Sometimes, I wonder, how can he be so positive about the situation even when it looks dark and dull?_

Then, at the age of 14, all my questions were answered. Peleus' reading of the Fate… whilst many others were unable to understand what the words meant, and the hidden meanings between the lines, I did, my mind able to interpret a little of what it meant. He only ever read up to D.L. 2100, but eventually I convinced him to read me the Hidden Fate, a forbidden reading of the planet's predictions.

_D.L. 2116, From the dimensional walls shall appear a creature like none other, gifted with another Arc of Legends. This creature shall bring true prosperity to the land of Lyeris, altering Fate and Time. This marks the end of Dawn._

It was a reading that changed how I looked at things, something that sparked hope in me. It was around that time that I discovered the rune carved into the back of my neck. I looked in the mirror one day, turned around, and that's where I saw it, a symbol resembling an arced longsword, a weapon of the fabled humans. Without letting him know, I snuck into Peleus' private library of books, and pored through the pages of each one, knowing all too well that Peleus most likely knew about this, and had some information regarding it.

Peleus' caught me, of course, since my stealth and sneaking skills were terrible at the time. Everything worked out in the end though, he helped me find the book I wanted and even the page I was looking for. It was as if he had prepared and anticipated this day to come. I looked through the pages, and only shock could describe my expression back then.

_**The Arc of Keldeo is a power that is drawn from the essence of the legendary Pokémon Keldeo itself. Like each Arc of Legend, its power comes from the innate and mystical abilities of the Pokémon. The Arc of Keldeo can often be recognized in a particular entity by its signature runic mark, an arced sword surrounded by a whirlpool of water. **_

The whole thing made no sense to me, but at least now I knew what it was. I most likely possessed the Arc of Keldeo. And after Peleus read that piece of information, my life changed. Peleus literally halted almost all of my daily activities, and told me to practice agility and combat. I often compared the 'practice' to assassin's training, since it really seemed like it, but most of the time I just smashed whatever stone structure I could find.

Occasionally, I'd find supplies in a ruin I train in, and I'd bring them back after training. Peleus didn't seem to mind, since he stayed as cheerful and as happy as usual. And it was like that, day in, day out… until the Arceains found our hideout. Over half of the refugees with us were massacred, and we had to relocate to another area. Honestly, I still shiver at that thought, how we barely managed to make it out alive…

"Kai…" I heard a voice jolt me from my memories.

I looked back, noticing that Risk was having a couple of dreams. His eyes were scrunched up, like he was in pain or something.

"The folds between worlds will weaken… zzz… unprecedented danger… zzz… approached their land… zzz…"

_That's… the Fate reading for D.L. 2021! How could he know it? If I remember correctly, he's never heard the Fate before… I only mentioned it to him…_

And then, he spoke clearly, despite his sleeping, in a voice that didn't seem to be his own,

"_An old land brings confusion,  
and thus shall provide a mysterious illusion.  
A force beckons, calling thy aid,  
and thou will respond, revealing the hidden blade.  
Face the darkness, your destiny set in motion,  
a memory will render you devoid of emotion.  
Beware the curse, a torment to behold,  
as crimson drops fall upon you like gold."_

Then he heaved a sigh, and took a deep breath, returning back to sleep as his snoring continued.

_What was… that…?_

A loud explosion not too far from us caught my attention, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned around, only to see the Arceains approaching us. Three more explosives were hurled towards us, the protection glyph barely repelling them as the explosive force sent rubble flying through the protection shield, crashing onto the floor and what remained of the ruins. Two more explosives came, and the protection shield shattered like glass, the glyph no longer active.

"Damn it! That was faster than I'd hoped!" I cursed.

I had no time to wake Risk, and I doubt he'd wake even if I did try. I hauled him off the ground, grabbed what supplies I could in a bag and literally ran for my life. Faint explosions set off behind me as I took each step forward, the starless night sky being lit up with flames, accompanied by grey smoke, as the Arceains continued to hunt for us. I ran and ran, hoping to find another safe spot for the night, but with our current situation, we'd probably have to escape each spot every three hours or so. Soon, I managed to find us another place to rest, this one more sheltered than the last. I put Risk down, only to find him still snoring away despite our near-death situation, which left me annoyed at best.

_Seriously? If he can sleep through explosions, next time we do this, I'm SO not letting him sleep._

I unpacked what little supplies we needed before we most likely had to run again, and took a bite out of the second sandwich I had. Looking over the remaining rations, we had about nine more sandwiches, which means another five meals at best, and we had about four bottles of water, which would last us hopefully three days, five if we drank sparingly. That was about all the supplies we needed, for now. I had a dagger, just in case, but a measly dagger wasn't going to do much against Arceains.

Loud snoring came from Risk for the next two hours, and I was bored out of my mind, for the first time. There was really nothing for me to do except sit down, keep watch and rest for the time being, seeing as I'd already placed another protection glyph and fortified it so we could stall for a little more time. I found myself reaching inside my sling bag and pulling out an old book about Lyeris' history, flipping through the pages as I read through the tales that Peleus always talked to me about.

My mind simply processed all the titles in the book, giving each not much thought before moving on to the next. **Terrest…Miasma… Guild Revolution… Beginning of Shadow… Mystery Dungeons…**

_Mystery Dungeons? I'd never heard of Peleus mention such a thing…_

Intrigued by a topic I'd never seen, I began reading through the section titled 'Mystery Dungeons' and was fascinated by its lore. Although, in the recent years, after the Judgment, I doubt any Mystery Dungeons had survived, but it was a great thing to read about. I had read all about heroes and legends, but whenever I asked Peleus how they became heroes, he simply brushed the topic off as 'They explored the unknown'.

_Unknown, huh? Mystery Dungeons, he meant._

Another half-hour passed in a flash as I continued reading through the book, and that was when I heard a faint noise.

"Unh…"

I looked up from the book to see Risk finally waking from his four-hour nap, with him rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them.

"Hey, Kai. What's happened while I was out?"

"Oh, you know, nothing much. Except if you count the fact that you slept through five explosions and we just changed locations, then all is well."

"Wha…? Did the Arceains attack?" He asked, a faint panic in his voice.

"Yeap, but no worries. I've already set up the protection glyph again, this time stronger than the last since we have some time."

"Oh, great." He relaxed a bit, and his usual tone returned, "So, what'cha reading? Looks interesting, and we really don't have anything else to do."

_Good point… what are we doing, anyway?_

Risk took an interest to the book I was reading, so I lent it to him while I let my thoughts run wild.

_Peleus said he came as our salvation, but how is he supposed to help? So far, all he's done is sleep for the past four hours, and he hasn't shown any signs of being able to fight. I look at him, but his aura is dormant, dull as if he's never used an attack before. Those stories Peleus always told me, the heroes always had some sort of special purpose and had golden auras, signs that they were to be great legends. But his aura is null and void… Well, he has to have an aura; otherwise he wouldn't be alive, but still…_

"Hey, Risk." Risk perked up, lifting his head from the book to look at me with his crimson irises.

"Any of your memories return yet? Anything you remember or why you're here?" I asked, hoping to not only get an answer but also an explanation for that strange prediction earlier. It sounded like a prophecy at best, and just plain gibberish at worst.

"Hmm… nothing yet… but I did see something while I was asleep."

"Hmm? What did you see?"

"Oh, nothing much, really. Just a picture of some Pokémon." He replied.

_A picture of a Pokémon? I wonder which one…?_

"I'd draw it out for you, but unfortunately I seem to recall I suck at drawing. Arts aren't really my forte." He chuckled nervously.

"Heh, it's fine. Though, we need to find out what Peleus meant by you being our salvation, or our running's going to be pointless in about three days or so. That's the time we run out of rations."

"Aw… run out of food and water, huh? Oh, well. We're just going to have to hope that we find someplace to restock soon." He smiled, seemingly ambiguous to the severity of the situation as he handed the book back to me.

"Well, I'm going to take the next watch, maybe you should get some rest." Risk said.

"That's fine, I'm not that tired yet. Besides, two pairs of eyes are always better than one."

"Oh… okay then!"

He walked over to the edge of the protection field, and sat down, leaning his back against a stone pillar in a direction my eyes couldn't keep watch, and I took watch of the opposite side, still reading through the Mystery Dungeon pages of the book. What surprised me was that the last page of the Mystery Dungeon section was folded into half, stuck into the spine of the book. I unfolded it carefully, so as to not tear it, and the last page depicted a picture of two Pokémon I'd never seen before, and on the back of the page, the blank side, was a note written in Peleus' handwriting.

**Dear Kai, **

**If you are reading this, it must mean that you've taken the time to read through the Mystery Dungon section. I hope it was fascinating enough to capture your attention. Though scarce, there exists a few Mystery Dungeons remaining in our day and age, and one in particular, called the 'Templar's Sanctuary', is a five-floor Mystery Dungeon which houses a safe spot at the end. In the event that you might have to escape from our current hiding spot, I would suggest that you go there, as the dimensional distortions will keep Arceains out for the most part. It is approximately five miles northeast of our current position, and it is marked in the map on the back of the book. **

**I hope you enjoy the present I've included at the back of the book, and that you stay safe, wherever you are.**

**Love,  
Peleus.**

I quickly flipped to the back cover of the book, where a piece of tattered and worn paper fluttered onto the ground, and a glyph was inscribed there.

_I recognize this pattern… it's a portal glyph!_

My mind instantly went into overdrive, trying to remember the rules for this particular formation.

_Portal Glyph: Dimensional Realm, a glyph that creates a separate existence and serves as a gate to the particular realm. Whatever that has been trapped inside cannot escape unless removed by an exterior force. If the glyph is erased, what has been trapped inside automatically vanishes along with the separate existence._

I touched my paw to the center of the glyph, and the symbols immediately shone a bright white light. As the light subsided, my paw slowly disappeared inside the glyph, and I poked around what seemed to be the inside of a rather tiny sphere, until I felt something that was similar to a bracelet. I pulled it out, and I found a metal bracelet, with a green gem forged in the middle, another glyph inscribed on it, one that I had never seen before.

It didn't seem to be anything dangerous, and at best it looked helpful. Without making too much of a fuss, I snapped it onto my wrist, and it seemed to fit just nicely. All the fuss must've caught Risk's attention, though, since he was looking over at me and peering at my newfound gadget.

"Hey, Kai, what's that? Never seen one before."

"This? I'm not sure myself, it was a gift from Peleus, but he didn't exactly explain what I'm supposed to do with it."

"Huh. Maybe we'll find out." He said, before returning to his original position, apparently too bored to care more.

I closed the book with a thud, and placed it back into my sling bag, but not before ripping out the page that had the map to the mystery dungeon. I closed the sling bag with a click, and then hauled it off the sandy ground.

"Risk!" He turned around, a little in fright of my sudden shout, which I used to my advantage to toss his sling bag at him, which he caught.

"C'mon, we're going."

"Going where? You have a plan or something?" He questioned.

"Peleus left us a little something. I suggest we stick to it if we're going to escape those Arceains."

"Alright, then! Let's go!" He said, almost too cheerfully, as if he was completely oblivious to the current situation.

And right on cue, a barrage of explosions shook the protection field, signaling the time for us to make our immediate escape.

* * *

-3rd Person-

**Location: Lyeris Sector 33  
Date: Inciday, Prieam-Zexirius 32, D.L. 2116  
Time: 10:01 PM  
Historia: Present**

The explosions instantly destroyed the fortification, making the time and effort put into upgrading the protection glyph literally useless and futile. Risk and Kai quickly took to their feet, running in the exact opposite direction of the explosions, and left the safety of the glyph as another barrage of explosions triggered a sound similar to that of shattering glass, and the protection field's elimination. Kai ran ahead, while Risk followed closely behind, occasionally looking backwards and stealing glances of the Arceains that currently were out for their blood.

They looked just like ordinary Pokémon, but their shadows made it hard for him to make out their species and type. The only uniformed thing about them was that there was a distinct symbol on their foreheads, and they were all wearing white capes lined with golden material, the exact color scheme of the famed Arceus. Kai's footsteps were faint and almost silent amidst the chaos, whilst Risk's footsteps weren't exactly that of someone who didn't want to be discovered. The Arceains were hot in pursuit of the duo, and many times Risk had to veer left and right to dodge the incoming blasts of energy.

The first was a bright green and yellow, identified by Risk's mind as Solar Beam, though he had no idea how he knew that name. The next, a bright orange, Flamethrower. The last was a cold blue and white, obviously Ice Beam. Each blast of energy came from their pursuers, three in all. It was clear to Kai, once Risk had relayed the information to him, that the three pursuers were grass, fire and ice-types.

"Risk! Run ahead! I'll delay them!"

Risk, though about to protest at first, realized how much he would be in Kai's way if he didn't listen. He knew that he could barely fight, and didn't know so much as a thing about dealing with enemies, considering that he'd only rested for the past four hours, so he somehow managed to devour his own worries and run ahead of Kai, who slowed to a stop with a knife wielded in his hands. The knife was made of a silvery metal, inscribed with the most mystical and fascinating of patterns, one that the Arceains clearly recognized.

"Shit! He's got a Rune Dagger!" One of the pursuers exclaimed.

Kai quickly carved a formation into the ground with the dagger before invoking the glyph's effects.

Kai shouted, as he turned around to continue running, "Astentre! Barrier Glyph, Rank 2!"

The glyph he had carved into the ground shone with a bright white light, temporarily blinding the Arceains and impeding their progress. Then, as the light subsided, the Arceains found themselves facing what seemed to be an invisible force field, one that was held up by the runic formation. Kai took a quick glance at his handiwork, with the three Arceains trying desperately to shatter the barrier, and smirked, as he left to join Risk in their escape.

Soon, Kai found Risk, who had long slowed to a stop and was standing amidst the blowing winds, apparently awaiting Kai's arrival.

"You're slow, Kai!" Risk said with impatience, "What took you so long?"

"Glyph drawing. Those Arceains will be occupied for a while, since Rank 2 Barrier Glyphs are so difficult to break. It was the best I could draw in that moment, but it's good enough. That should buy us another four hours at worst, another six at best. We really shouldn't be standing around here."

"Okay. So, where we headed?"

Kai handed Risk the map, hoping that Risk would be somewhat better at topography than he was.

"Hmm… from what I can tell, we're here…" Risk muttered, subconsciously pointing to a random location on the map that was vaguely close to where their previous hiding spot had been, which Kai took as 'surprisingly accurate'.

"So… we just need to head another two miles north, and we should be there. Not as far as I thought." Risk rolled up the map, stuck it in his sling bag, and looked back to see Kai running after him. The two ran off into the distance, in the direction Risk led them, and sure enough, within a span of two hours; they had reached what seemed to be the remains of an ancient temple.

The structure was impressive, compared to the ruins from before, with actual stone pillars supporting a triangular roof, despite the whole structure seemingly tilted a tad to the left. Faint remains of stone statues that once stood at either ends of the now caved in entrance were present, giving the whole place an ancient feeling, more than usual. However, despite how much the two was impressed by the architecture, Risk clearly had a more important question than that of the building itself.

"How the heck are we gonna get in!? Half of the place has already sunk in to the ground, leaving only the littlest bit of the entrance and the roof! There's no way we're getting in there."

"Never be so quick to say never, my friend." Kai said, with a highly sarcastic tone, before he set to work carving a rune into the ground with his dagger.

"Astentre! Reveal Rune!" The runic symbol glowed brightly before vanishing, and just like its name, it had revealed a hidden path into the entrance of the mystery dungeon, cut into the ground.

"Well, shall we be going?" Kai gestured to the entrance, looking at Risk for an answer, and a nod was all that he needed.

The pair then journeyed into the dark and dreary path, which soon led them to the proud gates of what Kai assumed to be: Templar's Sanctuary. Proud and majestic gates stood before them, which Risk took the first steps to push and heave. The gates soon gave way, opening with a loud creaking noise, and inside they found, the first floor to their first mystery dungeon.

* * *

_A roaming soul appears as their salvation…  
An end to suffering, a hope creation.  
A dormant power, one that brings light…  
Against chaos, it shall fight._

* * *

Alright, this is the first chapter. Unfortunately, OCs are not accepted until a little later in the story, so for now, just relax and enjoy the show. So, read and review, because they're pretty much the only way I know if anyone's reading... Anyway, see you with the next chapter, and who knows when that will come.


	3. Chapter 2: Friends

**Team Statistics:**

**-Risk:  
Species: Treecko  
Ability: Overgrow  
Level: 8  
Held Item: None**

**-Kai:  
Species: Riolu  
Ability: Steadfast  
Level: 10  
Held Item: Battle Interface**

* * *

Arc of Legends

Prelude: Beginnings

Chapter 2: Friends

-Kai-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B1  
Date: Inciday, Prieam-Zexirius 32, D.L. 2116  
Time: 10:32 PM  
Historia: Present**

Risk is completely and totally useless.

Seriously, it'd only been about a half-hour since we got here, and already we'd gotten into some really unwanted scrapes. It turns out everything that book said about Mystery Dungeons was right, and for the most part, I was glad it did have all the facts right, except for one thing.

The ferals. Pokémon that don't have any intelligence and act just like wild animals, with their own unique survival instincts. Of course, in our post-apocalyptic world, very few ferals were left, but in the world of Mystery Dungeons where dimensional distortions literally ruled the entire area, ferals found it rather easy to live in, apparently.

It turns out that Templar's Sanctuary was a Mystery Dungeon which specialized in rock and ground-types, which was a good thing considering I was a fighting-type and Risk was a grass-type, but…

"Kai, how do I attack?" Risk asked once more.

_What a bonehead… four hours here, and he spends the whole time sleeping, completely forgetting to mention the fact that he doesn't know how to fight. Sure, I anticipated this, but I'd hoped he at least knew how to pull off a friggin' tackle._

Risk stayed in the sidelines while I faced off against another feral, a Cranidos, who had just finished charging up his attack. The Cranidos charged me, with his forehead completely glowing bright blue, an attack I recognized as Zen Headbutt. I waited for his attack, lured him in before dodging at the last second, causing him to rush past me and ram himself into the walls. The whole cavern shook from the impact, causing dust and several pieces of rock to fall from the ceiling. As the Cranidos turned around, I dashed forward and used Force Palm, blasting the Cranidos through the wall and into another room of the dungeon.

With that over, I heaved a quick sigh of relief before gesturing to Risk to continue walking. A half-hour had passed and we were still stuck on the first floor; this was going to be a long night. But, at least, what Peleus had said was true. The dimensional distortions made the Mystery Dungeon a challenge to navigate through, but that meant the Arceains would have a tough time finding us in here as well.

"Hey, Kai. Is this the exit?" Risk said, from a distance to my right.

I looked over at him, and I saw that he was standing beside and gesturing to what seemed to be a hole in the wall. It was glowing dimly, barely illuminating the near-darkness of the caverns in this dungeon.

"Likely. Why don't you try it?" I said.

"Okay…?" Risk said, before stepping into the hole and vanishing without a trace. Soon, I followed suit.

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B2**

We emerged out of nowhere again, in one of the many rooms that the Mystery Dungeon had clearly possessed. It was an empty room, with pathways branching off in two directions, both of which were poorly lit and nearly covered in darkness. I cursed myself silently for not bringing any source of lighting. Risk was already checking out both the paths, seemingly deciding which one would be the best to take.

"Hey, Kai, you still haven't told me how you know the levels of those ferals."

_Now that I think about it, I haven't told him about the Battle Interface… Suppose this is as good a time as any._

"It's this bracelet."

Risk questioningly cocked his head to the side, almost endearingly, "The bracelet? How is that supposed to help?"

"The bracelet turned out to be a piece of ancient technology from D.L. 2040, the Battle Interface System. It seems Peleus managed to scrape one and repair it."

"Battle… Interface? What does that mean?"

"Supposedly, it's a program that's tied to a runic glyph formation that allows the Pokémon holding it to scan the data of enemies that the system has already seen. This Battle Interface System had absolutely no data at first, but now we've already chalked up about five Pokémon worth of information. Their information is accessible anytime through the system, so I'd say it's a pretty helpful tool."

"Huh. Never knew that. Now my remaining problem is figuring out how to fight." Risk said, drooping his head in disappointment and a slight bit of sadness.

"Relax, why don't I teach you now?" I asked.

"Would it be safe? We could be approached by ferals any time."

"I'll just teach you the basics. That shouldn't take too long." I said, before placing my sling bag against a wall, grabbed my Rune Dagger and approached the two pathways leading out of this room. Carving a familiar formation on each pathway, I invoked, "Astentre! Protection Glyph!" A low hum could be heard as the faint force fields rose from the glyphs carved onto the ground, temporarily protecting the area from ferals.

"Okay, Kai. I'm ready." Risk said, having already put down his sling bag and standing in the middle of the room.

"Alright. Just promise me you won't freak out at this." I approached him with my Rune Dagger in hand.

"Freak out at wha… What the heck are you doing?"

I began drawing a runic glyph surrounding him, a hollow circle that surrounded his feet, large enough to encompass his whole figure. Intricate waves and crisscross patterns were carved inside two layers of circle, with the compass points of the circle having four more individual circles. Inside the four small circles, I carved a different rune in each, despite only understand two. The first rune and third runes meant 'Rise' and 'Wake', respectively. Peleus had never explained the second and fourth, most likely because he didn't know, as unbelievable as that may have sounded.

"What is this?"

"Something that'll help you practice." I stepped back, admiring my handiwork for a second before closing my eyes and concentrating. I pictured my aura, a shroud of energy that surrounded me; extend to become tendrils of bright orange, which was the color of my aura. I opened my eyes to see Risk's mouth gaping wide as he watched me conduct the aura around me to pierce the four circles, injecting the runes there with pure energy, before they began glowing bright white.

"Wha…" Was all Risk could say in the midst of his shock.

The glyph soon began glowing dimly, and I could tell the Awakening Glyph had already begun doing its job. Risk doubled over in pain, which in this case, was a good thing. I just stood over him, having already gone through the same thing and experience just how painful it was; which it really wasn't. Imagine having your whole body roasted over a small fire for around five minutes, or standing the in the boiling sun for a half-hour, and add all that discomfort and pain altogether in one moment. It was kinda like that, a dull, slightly intense pain that radiated throughout the body.

Once Risk managed to get to his feet again, I looked at him with 'Aura Sense', a natural latent ability native to the Riolu and Lucario lines that allowed us to detect and see aura, and it seemed that the process was a success. A transparent aura now enveloped his body, a condensed energy that seemed to be visible by the naked eye, evident by Risk's admiration at his own body. I blinked my eyes, a three-second-long blink that sorta 'switched off' Aura Sense, and I saw his aura still, even without my abilities.

"Whoa… what is this?"

"That's your aura. Normally, when a Pokémon is born, their auras are dormant and sleeping, so even Riolu and Lucario are unable to see their auras. Then comes in the Awakening Glyph, which sends a shock of energy to the separate focal points of the Pokémon's body to awaken the dormant aura. It always appears transparent at first." I explained, taking my time to make sure he understood, to which he nodded.

"Then, is yours transparent?" He asked.

"Nope. My aura is bright orange. Colored auras represent the individual Pokémon's character and personality, as well as their talents and abilities. No two auras are the same, though there are many that are similar. Even with similar auras, each will have some deviation from the other."

"Auras represent ability? What does that mean? I understand the colors representing personality, but how does aura represent ability?"

I took a deep breath, before continuing my explanation, "Auras also deviate in size and the Pokémon's abilities determine it. Therefore, a veteran explorer or an adept battler for example, would have a larger and more menacing aura then a infant child or a teenager who's lived a sheltered life."

"Ah… I think I get it now. So attacks are basically using aura to manifest energy attacks?"

"That's part of it." I paused, to take a breath and also to remark how fast he was picking this up, "Energy attacks such as beams and blasts would use aura to emit energy from the body itself. But, energy attacks such as bolts and shots are separate from the body and are generally weaker because they don't have a direct connection to the body's pool of latent aura. Take for example, a comparison between an Ember attack and Flamethrower. Both involve transforming aura into fire, but Flamethrower is stronger, because it is emitted as a blast of fire, with a direct connection to the body's aura. Get it?"

"Yeah… I suppose so. So if I use aura, I can execute any type of move?" He asked.

"No. If that were true, just about every Pokémon could literally be Arceus or Mew. Legendaries wouldn't but very legendary if that happened. Imagine a million Arceus' and think about what would happen." I paused, as Risk chuckled at the apparent sarcasm of the statement.

"Each of the 18 types also contribute to aura, with each type having a standard baseline for the uniqueness of aura. This is also where a term known as STAB comes into play, or Same-Type Attack Boost, where using attacks that are native to your aura type are boosted in terms of power because the move and your aura are directly compatible." I explained.

"Ah… So, I'm a grass-type, which means my aura is a grass-type aura. So, if I use grass-type attacks, I'll get a higher damage output compared if I used a dark-type attack, for example?" He questioned, clearly already getting the idea.

"Yes, something like that. Each Pokémon species, based on their typings, can have different affinity for different types of moves. But each species is unique, so I wouldn't know much about the specifics. Even if I did, it'd take two days to explain yours."

"Yeah, we can't stay here for long… heh." Risk sweatdropped.

"Alright, so, you're gonna have to go on instinct from here. Each Pokémon has a different move pool they can learn, and I'm afraid I've only memorized my own, and not that of a Treecko. You're just going to have to try something. I'll identify the move you use. Go ahead." I stepped back, just to make sure I don't die from his attacks or anything.

"Okay… Let's see…" Risk closed his eyes, instincts clearly taking over as his aura began to shrink until it was concentrated as a thin layer of energy surrounding him, just inches away from his skin. The transparency of the aura soon began to turn solid white, and in a flash he vanished from the boundaries of the glyph circle, only to appear at the end of the room, having smashed a portion of a cave wall.

"Woah! That's… Quick Attack! I'd have though you would've used something really basic, like Pound or Tackle… Fast learner, huh?"

"So that was Quick Attack, huh… Well, not as fancy as an energy attack or anything, but it'll do for basics. But just in case…"

Risk stopped moving for a moment, and closed his eyes, and for a moment I assumed he was going to execute another Quick Attack. His aura appeared once more, and he took a stance, one that I hadn't seen before. His two hands were put together, one over the other like he was holding a floating ball, and then at the exact moment he opened his eyes, he thrust both his hands forward and shouted 'HAH!'.

I stood there dumbfounded, holding back the laughs of the epic fail that I had just witnessed, "What… are you trying to do?"

"Aw… I thought I'd be able to do Solar Beam or something…"

I stood there, completely surprised by the… stupidity of the Pokémon in front of me, "Solar Beam? That's way more advanced than a measly Quick Attack."

"Hey! That makes it sound like I'm more of a beginner than usual!" He remarked, clearly unpleased with my comment, "Never mind, I'll learn it next time. Now, shouldn't we be going?" He said quickly, before grabbing his sling bag and going down the left pathway. I soon did the same and followed suit, stifling back the remnants of

The walls of the cavern all looked relatively the same, with jagged edges lining the rock walls, nearly no lighting being able to get through. In fact, the only reason why Risk and I could see in here was because our eyes had already adjusted to the darkness. Most of the time, we had to feel our way through the area, and there were one too many times when I crashed into Risk or vice versa because of a really dumbass wall.

Luckily, the second floor seemed to be quiet, with little to no ferals at all, and we were lucky enough to reach the exit without any interference.

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B3**

The minute we stepped out, our luck just ran out.

Right in front of us, a rock-type that was way larger than us, with a really menacing feeling to it. It's eyes clearly showed its anger, and it soon acted upon it, charging straight at us with a vengeance.

"Risk, snap out of it!" I shouted, just in time to bring Risk back to his senses from his shock, as the both of us dashed sideways to avoid the charging Pokémon.

_Battle Interface, Activate. _

Digital and technological sounds hummed in my ears, and soon my eyes registered the effects of the battle interface. Windows tinted lime green appeared in my line of sight, and a green reticle began to scan the Pokémon in front of us. The Pokémon charged Risk, clearly taking advantage of his obvious weakness, relying on pure instincts to fight us, since that was all ferals could do. Risk dodged with ease using his agility, letting the rock-type charge straight into the cave wall, before charging his aura.

"Quick Attack!" A burst of white energy emanated from Risk's body, dashing past the rock-type and dealing considerable damage. That was when the scanning completed.

**Rhyhorn, Spikes Pokémon**

**It is a rock-type Pokémon that specializes in rush attacks. Even the strongest steel falls to its rush attack, as it does not stop running until its anger is quelled. **

**Current Enemy Status:  
Level: 18  
Held Item: None**

_So… this Pokémon's a Rhyhorn, huh? Its level isn't that high either, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. If it specializes in rushing, then the only time we get to attack is when we just dodge its attacks._

"Risk!" I shouted, loud enough for him to hear, "Rhyhorn can only be damaged when you just dodge its attacks! Use that chance!"

"Got'cha!" Risk then turned to face the Rhyhorn, as the feral Pokémon began charging up for another attack. The Rhyhorn charged again, with Risk taking the advice he'd been given, sidestepping a long way to let the rock-type smash into the wall, before preparing another Quick Attack. The Rhyhorn seemed to have adapted to Risk's attack, however.

The Rhyhorn quickly shifted its position to facing Risk, and just as Risk unleashed his Quick Attack, the Rhyhorn met his attack with its own. The rock-type's horn began glowing white, a move that the battle interface recognized.

"Risk! Don't charge him!" I warned.

It was too late. Risk used Quick Attack and met the attack I had recognized as Horn Attack, the two attacks clashing it a flurry of sparks. Taking the opportunity, I ran towards the Rhyhorn, unleashing Force Palm just as Risk fell back from the brunt of the Horn Attack, the fighting-type move completely sending the Rhyhorn into the cave walls, officially knocking him out.

After confirming that the Rhyhorn was down for the count, I rushed over to Risk, and noticed multiple small wounds cut across his body.

"Risk! Does it hurt?" I asked, knowing that it was most likely a rhetorical question.

"Oh, no. It doesn't hurt one bit… of course it hurts, you idiot! I just got hit with an attack!"

"Then stop complaining so much…" I muttered, digging into my sling bag for an Oran Berry.

"Here, take this. It'll heal you, or so I've been told." I said, handing him the blue berry.

* * *

-Risk-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B3  
Date: Inciday, Prieam-Zexirius 32, D.L. 2116  
Time: 11:12 PM  
Historia: Present**

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the berry from his paws and biting off a piece of the blue berry. Immediately, a sweet combination of flavors burst in my mouth, with a juicy interior and a slightly tough exterior, the Oran Berry seemed like the best thing I had eaten in awhile. Just as Kai had said, I felt much better almost immediately. I looked down at my wounds, which had already begun to close up, much to my surprise.

"Woah… Oran Berries really do the trick, huh?" I remarked.

"Yeap, they're really rare and difficult to find in Lyeris, but Oran Berries pretty much heal almost every injury. There's the exception of poison, paralysis and the status conditions, but most damage-based injuries are healed by Oran Berries. There's Sitrus Berries, too, but Sitrus trees have long gone extinct, so they don't exist any more, but I read they're kinda like an upgraded Oran Berry." Kai explained, pouring his knowledge on me.

"Okay…" I managed to mutter, with too much information stuffed into me for one day, already.

"Way too much info. Maybe let my brain rest before it explodes, please?" I begged.

I could just imagine an anime-style vein pop on his head, as he said with a huff, "Fine, then. I'll leave the lectures for later."

I stood up, and with as much sarcasm as possible, "Thank you, Professor Kai. Now, shall we get going, sir?" I bowed.

"You're insufferable." Kai muttered.

"I know, right!" I said, eliciting giggles from me, which Kai only showed indifference to, the moody guy.

"Well, then. Let's get out of here." Kai said, which I was only too ready to agree.

For the next ten minutes or so, we continued exploring the reaches of the cavern, meeting several ferals, which we had little trouble with. As each battle ended, I felt my abilities slowly developing, with a shorter time taken to pull off a Quick Attack each time I used it, even if each change was a split-second shorter. Pretty soon, we found the next exit.

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B4**

"You seem to be getting better, Risk." Kai remarked, as we appeared sprawled on the cave floor once more.

"You think so? I feel that I'm getting faster, but I can't be sure." I said, directing the question inward as well.

"Yeap. Beginner aura users can take up to five seconds to pull off the attack, because they require a lot of concentration to invoke their auras. The most adept of fighters can pull off an attack in a split second because the invocation of aura comes to them as second nature. Your Quick Attack gotten faster, and it only takes you three seconds to attack. For me, one second, so we both have a ways to go."

"Huh. Split-second attacks… that sounds really fun! Alright! I'm gonna practice Quick Attack more!" I said, with an invigorated spirit, to which Kai just smirked at.

We continued walking for a while, before a question popped into my head.

"Hey, Kai. How long have we been in here?" I said, hoping to break the silence.

"Hmm…" He paused, most likely using his Battle Interface again, before continuing, "Around two hours or so."

"Two hours!? It doesn't feel that long… Like fifteen minutes or something."

"Hence, _Mystery_ Dungeon." He said, his tone most likely quoting the book he read on the subject, "A dimensional distortion includes temporal distortions and spatial distortions. This means that the dungeon will always look different each time you enter it, and its layout will always change. Meanwhile, time may go haywire once you enter, speeding up or slowing the temporal effect on your body."

"Meaning?" I questioned, confused by the last sentence.

"Meaning," He said, as we continued down the dark path, "that the difference in time between us and the outside world will be different." He paused, clearly using his own words now, "So say we've been in here for fifteen minutes. While it may feel like fifteen minutes to us, in truth the temporal distortions have slowed time on us so the time outside the dungeon is sped up, compared to our own."

"Ah… so everything that goes according to time basically screws up." I summarized.

"Pretty much. We'll heal faster, get hungrier faster, and we lose a whole lot of time in the outside world." He ended.

It was at that point we stepped into another roomy cavern, and when our bellies started grumbling. I looked at Kai; he looked back, a steady silence for a minute then ensued, before our bellies broke the silence again.

"Let's eat. I'm starving." He said, which I could not agree more to.

We sat down, placing our sling bags right beside us, leaning against one of the cave walls as we dug out sandwiches to take a bite off. Kai had already taken a bite off his second one, so he just took the same one and finished it up. I soon finished mine as well, and we split a bottle of water. That left us with eight sandwiches, four days of rations, as well as three remaining bottles of water.

"Well, we should probably get out of here. We might be able to replenish our supplies if we reach the end of the dungeon." Kai said, grabbing his sling bag as he heaved himself off the ground. I soon did the same, and we took the eastward path through the dark caverns. That was when we made a terrible mistake.

As we reached the next room surrounded by cave walls, the whole area began to shake. Dust and pebbles dropped from the ceiling, the ground below us shook as if a massive earthquake had struck the area, before the whole thing quieted to a deafening silence. Then, like a really sick idea of a joke, a horde of Pokémon swarmed into the room from the remaining pathways. There were three pathways, each releasing about five Pokémon each.

Quickly analyzing the situation, Kai muttered, "Not good… Two against fifteen. Damn it, a monster house was not what I expected." I glanced at his eyes, emanating a dim greenish glow, with a digital reticle zooming left and right inside his cyan iris.

"Risk, could you use Quick Attack and distract as many of them as you can? I'll use that time to figure something out." Kai asked, keeping his concentration on identifying the Pokémon.

I nodded, preparing Quick Attack as I looked and did a quick self-analysis of the situation. I recognized a few rock-types that we had already met, Rhyhorn, Cranidos, Geodude and Shieldon. There were two more species I didn't recognize, but I was sure Kai was already doing the analytics.

With a burst of white light, I charged the cluster of rock-types, dashing through them and knocking about seven back with my attack. Upon stopping I prepared another, and dashed through another group, managing to knock back another four. Eleven in total, not good enough.

"Risk! Those two are Sandshrew and Cubone! They're ground-types, so my fighting-type moves won't be as effective! Distract them for a bit while I finish off the rock-types!" Kai shouted over the battle noises, which I was glad to comply.

I taunted the brown mice, and those with the bone helmets on their heads; I used Quick Attack to draw their attention. I counted four in total, two of each. I smirked, knowing that this would be an easy task, considering I didn't have to defeat all of them. I charged Quick Attack, rushing at the first Pokémon that tried to get close to me. A Sandshrew came at me, rolling like a high-speed sphere, to which I countered easily with Quick Attack, going on to damage the other three.

Sustaining minimal damage due to typing, I used Quick Attack again on the Cubones, before going again for the relatively unhurt second Sandshrew. I did this over and over again, until my energy began to run low and I began to slow down. A Cubone got lucky and hit me with his bone-weapon, but I shook it off and pushed him back with Quick Attack. That was when the battle ended.

A wave of energy blasted a Sandshrew straight in the face, sending him tumbling back. I looked over to see that Kai had done the rock-types some justice, and he had already unleashed another wave of transparent energy, which sent the Cubones, who happened to be in close range of each other at the time, crashing into the rock walls. The last remaining Sandshrew was taken care off with a Quick Attack, followed up by another Force Palm from Kai, and that was then end of our lengthy battle.

"Haah…" Kai breathed a sigh of relief as he sat on the ground to rest, breathing heavily from fatigue. I couldn't blame him, considering he just took on eleven rock-types at once. Sure, his typing advantage helped, but surely he suffered from some tiredness. I offered him an Oran Berry, from the three that was packed in my sling bag, and he took it gladly.

"Thanks, Risk. Damn, I didn't think we'd encounter a monster house so quickly."

"A monster house?" I questioned, "What's that?"

"It's a gathering of feral Pokémon. By sheer instinct, there are instances where feral Pokémon will gang up on explorers." He said, quoting the book again.

"Huh. Well, then our luck must be really terrible."

"I wouldn't say it's all that bad." Kai remarked, gesturing to what was present behind him. I looked over his shoulder, beyond the crowd of defeated ferals, and there was the exit gate right there.

"Well, that's… unexpected."

"Yeap, it is. But I suppose we can count our lucky stars for that. C'mon, we're almost out. Let's get past that final floor."

"Let's go then!" I concurred.

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, B5**

Determined to make it through the last floor of the dungeon as fast as possible, we took to running through the caverns, not even stopping to take a break when we emerged into another room. We dashed past the stone caverns, making pathway decisions in seconds and literally dashing through the last floor. On the way, we found various useful held items, but most were unusable due to condition deterioration over the years, and we managed to only scrounge up one or two.

Our newfound experience with battle made the ferals easy to deal with as long as they came in groups of less than three, and thankfully there were no more 'monster houses' we had to deal with. All in all, a rather peaceful dungeon floor for a last one.

It was when we found the gate did we start having problems.

The gate was being guarded by a sleeping Lairon, as Kai called it, a full on steel-type clad in white armor. While Kai's fighting-type moves would have an advantage against it, Kai dubbed the Lairon at least ten levels above him, which would make it difficult to get pass him even with the type advantage. It was at that point where we began to make plans. It was a good thing that the Lairon was sleeping; we could prepare our plans and strategies before taking any action.

"I suppose we'll have to go with a hit-and-run strategy. Risk, you're gonna have to distract it while I hit its blind spots with Force Palm. But it'll be a little risky, since you're probably gonna sustain some massive damage…"

"Heh, risky? Check my name." I said, clearly putting across the joke.

_Yes! Things I've wanted to say since I came here #1! _

"Getting confident, Risk?" Kai asked.

"Sure am! C'mon! A Lairon can't be any worse than that monster house!"

"You've got a good point…" Kai said, still deep in thought, before he continued, "Alright, then! Let's get to it!"

With the go signal, I prepared Quick Attack and charged the sleeping Lairon, immediately waking him up and doing some sort of damage to his steel armor. As expected, the feral steel-type woke up with a terrible anger, and charged me with a move, his steel plate glowing bright white as he smashed straight into the wall, with me barely dodging the move. The whole wall crumbled under the impact, and Kai took the chance to deal two quick Force Palms, damaging the steel-type considerably.

Lairon now began targeting Kai, but I wouldn't let it. I used Quick Attack once more, hoping to irritate and temper its ire. The plan worked, with Lairon charging me with the same move again. I countered with Quick Attack, but he easily overpowered me and sent me flying into the wall, but it created another opportunity for Kai, as he used Force Palm once more. He dodged the Lairon's attack, before coming over and helping me up, as the Lairon prepared to attack again.

"Try not to counter his Iron Head, its way too powerful for either of us to handle." He whispered into my ear.

I nodded and replied with a simple 'Got'cha.' before we both went back to our plan. The Lairon charged me again, and this time I took a smart approach. I used Quick Attack to dodge far to the left, and Kai struck with Force Palm, before retreating. We repeated the process over and over again, hoping to wear down the Lairon. Quick Attack, dodge, Force Palm. Slowly but surely, the plan seemed to be working, with the Lairon slowing down quite a bit.

That's when the plan went completely haywire.

I charged with Quick Attack again, but this time it used a move I hadn't seen before. A circular barrier of blue energy surrounded the Lairon, and completely repelled my Quick Attack, knocking me back and staggering my movements. It also deflected Kai's Force Palm, which began to become a problem.

"Risk! That's Protect! It can only be used five times before the user need to rest from battling, so let's wear down those five times!"

Just as he had said, I used Quick Attack, and Lairon countered with Protect. Kai had switched to using Vaccum Wave, the move he used to take down the Sandshrew and Cubone, to wear down the Lairon's Protect. With each Protect, the battle just seemed to drag on longer and longer, with fatigue now plaguing both our movements. Counting seemed to be endless, with each Protect registering sharply in my mind.

_One Protect left… Zero!_

I heaved a sigh of relief as I staggered back for the last time, Lairon having used up all five Protects at his disposal. But then he showed another terrible trick. His body resonated with energy, before a silver glow surrounded him and vanished. Most likely a move, but I had no idea what it was.

"Risk! It's Iron Defense! This isn't good, we need to take him down before his defense raises too high!" Kai shouted, with worry in his voice, a hint of panic laced within it.

_Iron Defense? Must be a defense-raising move. If his defense rises too high, we won't be able to deal any damage to him! We have to take him down!_

I used Quick Attack with a relentless fury, striking him once, then again, while Kai snuck in his Force Palms. The whole time, Lairon continuously stood there like a sitting duck, invoking one Iron Defense after the other, bringing our attacks closer and closer to zero. After one minute of relentless attack, Kai halted his assault, signaling me to do the same. And from his expression, I assumed the worst. His defense had rose to the point our attacks would do nothing to him.

"Damn it! We're too late! We won't be able to do any damage to him now!" Kai cursed.

The situation looked terribly bleak as Lairon charged at me with another Iron Head, with renewed vigor now that we couldn't deal any more damage to it. I barely managed to dodge it, escaping with bruises and cuts on my left, with intense pain throughout my left arm. The Lairon stopped before crashing into the wall, faced us again and revealed another one of its moves: Take Down. A high speed charging attack that dealt recoil to the Lairon, but was faster and stronger than Iron Head, dealing massive damage to both me and Kai.

"Tch…" I heard Kai mutter as he sputtered out blood, the scarlet liquid staining the ground in front of us. It was the first time I'd seen him hurt so badly.

The Lairon was practically playing with us at that point, silently waiting as if to taunt us, with a very obvious smirk on its metal covered face. It clearly had the advantage, and even its non-sentient mind managed to register that. Now, it took its time torturing us until we'd eventually give out. The Lairon resorted to a more painful way of killing us, using a weaker move that would cause us way more pain than a simple Take Down. Metal Claw, over and over and over again.

With each strike, Kai coughed up blood, and I could barely hold it in myself, pain radiating throughout my entire body while my mind was just cursing how much I'd kill this Lairon if I could. The steel-type feral just kept smirking, just kept attacking, enjoying the sadistic pleasure this brought to it… until I had enough.

I felt a renewed energy when Kai finally gave in, collapsing on the ground in the puddle of his own blood, and my aura spiked for the first time. It was a spectacular feeling, energy coursing throughout my battered and fatigued body, as the Lairon stepped back, fear clear in its eyes for the first time. My transparent aura became like a massive flame, creating energy pressure and causing the whole cavern to shake. At that moment, power did nothing to hold back my wishes.

I extended my hand, heeding my mind's wishes to obliterate this sadistic steel-type. The energy from my bursting aura condensed around my palm, as it changed to a yellow-green color, concentrating into a sphere of energy with a core in the center. My mind wasted no time registering the energy in my mind, and its attack name as well: Solar Beam.

I willed the energy forth, with a vengeance like none other as I invoked the attack name.

"**Solar Beam!**" I shouted, as the sphere of energy burst forward, a yellow-green beam of energy striking the Lairon, and the impact causing him to slowly stagger back. The blast got stronger and stronger, attuning to my anger and ire feeding it, until the Lairon couldn't hold its ground. The steel-type flew backwards, crashing straight into the wall along with the blast, and it was then the battle ended.

A silence surrounded the area, as I stopped to catch my breath, slowly recovering the energy from that attack. I soon had enough energy to move again, and I quickly tended to Kai's injuries, albeit with little knowledge of first aid. I managed to pop a Oran Berry down his unconscious throat, and the berry soon did its job, healing and closing up his most serious injuries, even if he remained unconscious.

In his unconscious state, I lifted him up onto my back, along with the two sling bags, almost staggering under the weight.

_He carried me once, so I suppose now it's my turn to return the favor._

With my breathing turning to panting, quick and short breaths, I stepped through the gate with Kai on my back, and let the warm light of the gate engulf me.

* * *

-3rd Person-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, Refuge Temple  
Date: Haenday, Prieam-Zexirius 33, D.L. 2116  
Time: 12:25 AM  
Historia: Present**

As the duo traversed the folds of the dimensional distortion once more, both appeared unconscious and sprawled on the ground, in the center of the dungeon known as Templar's Sanctuary. Refuge Temple, a place where the citizens of Lyeris once took shelter in, during the days leading up to the Day of Judgment. It was a paradise, compared to the rest of Lyeris' current state. Berry trees grew all around the area, dotting the massive room with a wide variety of healing fruit. Many resting items had been set up, such as beds and first aid tools.

Of the duo, Kai was the first to awaken, with all of his injuries nearly fully healed, thanks in part to the Oran Berry he had ingested earlier. Risk was not as lucky, with his energy fully expended due to the Solar Beam, remained unconscious for another hour after Kai had awoken. In that time, Kai had explored the Refuge Temple, plucking a wide variety of berries from its trees, and admiring its architecture.

It looked exactly like the inside of a church, with stone pillars surrounding and supporting the infrastructure, and even an altar that must've been there for the use of praying. It seemed abandoned, however, and with the Day of Judgment long past, Kai decided not to try praying to any deity. He did use some of the equipment present there, using the variety of berries he had picked to brew a healing concoction, the only recipe he remembered and the only one Peleus had taught him. Using a simple pot, Kai prepared boiling hot water.

From there, he threw in a mixture of sliced up Oran, Lum, and one of the Sitrus berries he had found. Closing the pot and leaving it to boil, he decided to rest a bit, whilst waiting for Risk to awaken, who he had already placed on a bed and tended to his injuries using the equipment in the first aid kits that were available there. Risk was soundly sleeping, and Kai soon decided to join him in slumber. It was about one hour of silence and peace when Kai heard Risk speak.

"Kai, how long are you planning to stay asleep?" Kai heard Risk's voice.

Kai popped open one eye, noticing the unconscious Risk looked a whole lot better after the rest, and was sipping liquid from a white teacup, seated on a simple stone stool with the pot of boiling berries beside him. Kai heaved his body off the bed, and Risk offered him a cup of the concoction, to which Kai happily accepted and began to sip on the combination of berries, the familiar taste bringing back happy memories of when Peleus used to brew it for him.

"I didn't think you were well-versed in herbalism, Kai. This tea really hits the spot!" Risk exclaimed, a smile on his face as he complimented his friend.

"It's nothing much, Peleus taught me the recipe. It's also the only one I know, for that matter." Kai said, taking another sip of the healing tea.

The combination of healing berries left a sweet taste in each of the duo's mouths, and the healing effects of Oran and Sitrus began to take effect, as their injuries started closing up faster than usual, a calming feeling resulting from the tea.

"So, where is this place?" Risk's question came.

"Probably the end of the Templar's Sanctuary dungeon. I read that all Mystery Dungeons have a 'center' in which the area is not affected by distortions, so basically the same as the outside world. I also read that's it's impossible to cut through the dungeon and come to the center directly, so I think we'll be safe from the Arceains here." Kai said, sipping his tea as he did.

"Finally! We can relax for the first time. That battle with the Lairon really took a lot out of me…" Risk exclaimed, stretching his limbs for exaggeration before pouring himself another cup of the tea.

"Speaking of," Kai said, which perked Risk's attention, "how did you defeat the Lairon? I passed out, so I don't remember." Kai shuddered at the memory of him coughing up blood with each strike of Metal Claw.

"Oh, that. I defeated him using Solar Beam."

"Ah, I see." Kai said, before coming to realization what his friend had just said, "Wait, YOU USED SOLAR BEAM?!"

"Yeap!" Risk answered, with the natural cheerfulness in his voice.

"How the heck…?" Kai's statement trailed off in shock.

"I don't really remembered what happened, but I do remember being really angry and wanting to smash the Lairon to bits. Then it just happened. My aura spiked and became Solar Beam."

'_I see…' Kai thought, 'that must've been 'Aura Burst'. It's common in untrained newbies, so I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised.'_

"Anyway, I don't want to worry about it! I probably won't be able to use Solar Beam again for a while, seeing as how much energy was used up just using one, so I'll stick to Quick Attack until I'm ready to try it again." Risk said.

'_And you'll probably not be able to do it again,' Kai thought, staring at the Treecko, 'Aura Burst only happens in times of heightened emotions, when emotions like anger are taken to their extreme level. Until we get into another situation like that, I doubt you'll be able to pull off another Solar Beam.'_

Kai then finished up his tea, gesturing to Risk for a refill, to which the grass-type happily complied. The duo just sat there, sipping on the healing liquid whilst enjoying the silence for the first time in six hours. For once, they were free to relax, not having to worry about dying or running for their lives or surviving. For once, they were safe, in a place where they would be sheltered from the Arceains.

It was a strange feeling to the Riolu. Having experience a life of hardship, where his daily routine would be dedicated to surviving and not dying, a sense of relaxation was unfamiliar to him. But it felt good, for the first time in his life, to be able to spend at least twenty minutes not worrying. And in some weird way, being able to spend this time with his newfound friend felt soothing.

'_Friend…' Kai thought. _

It was then that Kai looked up at the grass-type sitting just a few meters away from him. He then realized that the Treecko rarely frowned. He'd been smiling ever since Kai found him, and if he did get angry in that fight with Lairon, Kai hadn't been awake to see it.

'_I wonder what it's like,' Kai wondered, 'being able to live a life without worry, being able to smile like there's no tomorrow. I'm envious…'_

"Kai." Risk spoke.

Kai perked up, placing his thoughts at the back of his head.

"What're you thinking about?" Risk asked, as if reading Kai's mind.

"Oh, nothing." Kai smiled, "I was just thinking how envious I am of you."

"Envious? In what way?"

"You're always smiling. Being able to free yourself of worry, despite all this happening around you… it makes me jealous."

"Please!" Risk laughed heartily, "If anything, I'm jealous of you!"

Kai perked up, and Risk continued, "You've got powerful moves at your survival, you seem to be able to answer whatever questions I have, if anything, you're everything I never was."

Kai was surprised at his newfound friend's compliment. In his world, where he had to focus 100% of his effort into surviving, and the people around him trying to do the same, he realized he'd never been paid a compliment, nor had he ever given one. Now that he had no reason to worry his head off about surviving, he came to realize just how nice it was, to have someone at your side, someone that thinks of more than just the mundane things in life.

Kai chuckled, and that was when Risk piped in with a comment.

"Ah ha!" Risk immediately jabbed his finger at Kai, to which the fighting-type recoiled back in question, "That's the first time I've seen you laugh. You have a nice laugh."

"Heh, thanks, Risk."

Risk put down his figure and reverted back to his cheery self, "No problem, Kai! After all, we're friends, aren't we?"

'_Friends…' Kai thought, 'yes, friends. It feels nice to have a friend.'_

"Well, since we don't have to worry about anything right now, I'd say getting some sleep is in order." Risk said, putting his now empty teacup on the stone table, beside the warm pot of liquid, as he slid himself off the stool and walked up to the bed beside Kai's. Kai placed his teacup on the stand beside his bed, seeing as he was a couple inches off the ground.

"See you in the morning, friend. Good night, Kai." Risk uttered, before his eyes closed and his breathing became a steady one, falling asleep.

'_See you tomorrow, Risk. Sleep well.' Kai thought, before allowing sleep to take him._

* * *

_A partnership like none other…  
Two heroes, a pact like brothers.  
From their bond, is born a power…  
A strength between friends, like none other._


	4. Chapter 3: Traverse

**Team Statistics:**

**-Risk:  
Species: Treecko  
Ability: Overgrow  
Level: 10  
Held Item: None**

**-Kai:  
Species: Riolu  
Ability: Steadfast  
Level: 12  
Held Item: Battle Interface**

* * *

Arc of Legends

Act 1: Essence of Time

Chapter 3: Traverse

-Risk-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, Refuge Temple  
Date: Haenday, Prieam-Zexirius 33, D.L. 2116  
Time: 8:30 AM  
Historia: Present**

I awoke to the shine of the rising sun, a ray of light that pierced my dark vision, causing my eyes to open slowly, taking in the sights of the Refuge Temple, this time illuminated by the sunlight of the early morning. It pretty much looked the same as it was at midnight, but it was way brighter and there were more noticeable details like carvings and drawings spread across the ceiling walls. Sunlight shone in from above, like a skylight of sorts, clear that it was already early in the morning.

The sounds of clattering silverware perked my attention, so I heaved my head off the pillow and sat upright on the bed, with the bedsheets already thrown onto the floor. I saw Kai, standing at the stone table at the end with the stoves, where the pot of mixed berry liquid had been the night before, and he was with a frying pan, many cooking utensils sprawled on the floor. I decided to tell him I was awake, but with a way more interesting way. Without making a sound, I crawled up to him, tip-toeing so I wouldn't make a noise.

"Boo!" I shouted in his ear from behind, giving him the fright of his life.

He was so shocked that he turned around, completely forgetting that he was preparing food, and the frying pan, along with the sandwich he was trying to pan-fry, flew into the air as he fell backwards. Luckily, my reflexes kicked in as I grabbed the flying frying pan, and the sandwich inside it. However, the melted cheese that was in there didn't want to give me any luck, though. The melted cheese flew through the air, aaaaand… landed straight on Kai's paw

"AH!" Kai screamed from the pain that was brought on by the curse of the melting cheese.

I couldn't help but giggle at the scene, while Kai gave me quite the scary death look as he cleaned off the melted cheese off his paw and poured a liquid on it, most likely freshly-squeezed Rawst Berry juice, since he told me those berries cure burns. Sure enough, the liquid did it's job and soon the burn vanished, and his pained expression with it.

"Goddammit, Risk! Don't scare me like that!" Kai finally spoke.

"Hahaha! That was so hilarious!" I couldn't help laughing.

"DON'T LAUGH, GODDAMMIT!" He raged.

"Sorry…hehe." I said, still unable to hold back my giggling.

"So, how about my turn to make breakfast? I'm pretty good with cooking and stuff, and you should probably rest that burnt hand of yours." I offered.

"Nah, it's fine. My paw's completely recovered thanks to that Rawst Berry juice, but I'll take the 'you cook breakfast' offer. I was about to give up."

Smiling as he sat on the stone stool to await his meal, I set to work with the sandwiches. I took four slices of bread from the spread of ingredients already available there, mentally deciding that'd I'd ask where they came from after breakfast. I placed a thin piece of meat that strangely looked like ham, on each slice of bread, before taking Oran berries and sliced them up, laying the slices neatly on the bread, and then using a brewed combination of berries, poured a thin layer on the pan to serve as oil as well as to enhance taste and fragrance.

I put the pieces of bread on the pan to pan-fry for about one minute each, before removing them and placing them on a plate, spread out. Then, I poured a little more of the berry combination oil, and melted the slices of cheese in them, until the liquid became yellow tinted with a little greenish-blue, and poured it equally on each of the four slices of bread. Placing two slices of bread on top of each other to complete the sandwich, I added in what seemed to be pepper and salt to finish off the combination, serving it on a plate and offering one plate to Kai.

"Thanks." Kai said, before picking up the bread with his paws and taking a bite. I waited patiently for his response in regards to the taste, but no answer came. Instead of words, Kai expressed it in action, after letting the first bite sink in, he quickly scarfed down the rest of the sandwich in a hurry, before relaxing.

"This… this is great! It tastes better than anything I've ever eaten!" He complimented.

I smiled at his remark, happy that someone enjoyed my cooking. Faint memories of me cooking dishes in a kitchen returned to me, memories that did nothing to shock me. I began munching on my own sandwich, as Kai boiled a pot of water and tossed in a combination of mixed berries, most likely making that sweet tea again. True enough, he offered me a cup of the transparent lime liquid as I finished off the last bite of my sandwich. I sipped on it, the warmth of the liquid reaching all the way inside me, as I savored the sweet mix of flavors that were present.

"Hah…" I sighed, "This is great, not having to worry about the Arceains. We can actually have a proper relaxing breakfast for once."

"Yeah, it's great." Kai agreed, smiling, "Though, we're going to have to do something about the situation eventually. We can't hide out here forever."

"Perhaps, but at least until then, let's enjoy it while it lasts."

And to that, the both of us agreed with all that we were, calmly sipping on the soothing tea, whilst enjoying the calming silence of the morning. A serene breeze began to blow inside the depths of the Mystery Dungeon, and fresh air like none other seemed to surround us. Optimum serenity at its finest, nothing could be better.

We couldn't find anything better to do, except just lay there, lazing around as the sun shone in rays of golden light, leaving the two of us all the time in the world to chat about meaningless subjects. Although, Kai, having lived a life where each day is focused on survival, had very few thing to talk about when it came to idle chats. It became so awkward to the point I had to literally force myself to change the subject, before it became really bad.

"So, Kai. Could you teach me a little more about aura?"

"Sure. But first, let's find out the color of your aura." He got off the stone stool and approached me.

"Now, close your eyes." He paused, and I complied, putting down the teacup and closing my eyes.

"Picture the moment where you feel your emotions heighten, anger or happiness, it doesn't matter. Happiness is better, though."

I searched through the remnants of my memory, which just so happened to be a black bottomless pit. The way I pictured it in my mind, a whole lot of black screen TVs with buzzing screens as if the antenna was broken or something. I searched through the whole net of memories, only finding some of the most recent ones. I searched deeper, until I reached one. It was a memory I didn't recognize, one that was probably locked in my subconscious, but it was clear as day. My seventeenth birthday; it was a day of celebration. It was just a few days ago, before I lost my memory.

The whole event was blurry, with no distinct details appearing. But then one moment cleared and sharpened to a point, like watching a HD screen. It was a shadowy figure of a man, wearing a hoodie and had figures similar to black skull-like wings on his back. It was everything a person would classify as 'suspicious', and yet in the aftermath of the birthday celebration, I found myself approaching him, and an important memory returned to me.

I closed my eyes again, this time appearing in the world of my memory. I looked behind me where the supposed me in my memory stood, facing the shadow figure who leaned against the alley wall.

"So, kid. Ever feel bored in this world?"

"Yeah, sure. Who doesn't? There's barely any action in this place. The only place I can escape to are my dreams and the world of games."

"Then what if I said, that you could be reborn; reborn in the world of your favorite game. How would it sound to you?"

"If that were true, it'd be great. Too bad it won't ever come true." The figure that I assumed to be me in my memory shrugged.

"Oh, who knows what the future holds? Perhaps you'll find a gift in your dreams tonight, kid."

At that point, the memory shattered and I returned to the world of the living.

My eye fluttered open and I found myself taking deep, short breaths. I was covered in cold sweat and the sound of my heart pounding hard blocked out my ears. It was after I calmed down did Kai's voice appear in my hearing.

"Risk, are you alright? You look like you've been through a hell of a nightmare." He asked, concern written all over his face.

"I'm fine… just a memory. Nothing serious. So, did that memory do the trick?"

He stepped back, "I won't ask what that memory was, but whatever it was it sure was intense. Your aura changed color just moments after you closed your eyes."

"It did?!" I expressed my surprise.

"Yeap, but only for a moment. I'll have to fully shock with another aura awakening if it's going to be permanent."

I shuddered upon remembering the sheer intense pain I went through during my first awakening, the one that Kai performed on me that released my aura.

"It won't hurt, will it?" I had to ask.

"Just a bit. Bear with it." He approached me and grabbed my hand with both his paws, placing each paw above and below my hand, and his aura appeared around him. Then, it burst, and spiked into me. A sharp pain pierced my left hand, and then it radiated throughout my body, but it was less intense than that of the first awakening. My aura soon appeared like a flowing river of energy, circling my body in a spiral, before it became a shroud of energy, and soon began to change its hue.

From a transparent white, it slowly shifted, but the pain made it unbearable to watch. I couldn't help closing my eyes just to concentrate on tolerating the pain, with my eyes scrunched up and my whole body tensing up. It wasn't until a good two minutes later did I feel Kai tap me on the shoulder, a gesture to get me to open my eyes. I did.

My aura, now flowing normally like a slow flame, had changed from a transparent white to crimson red, perfectly imitating my irises.

"Well. That's a surprising color."

"Oh, yeah? How do you suppose?"

"Crimson red. The color of blood. It usually belongs to that of bloodthirsty criminals or psychopathic sadists, but there are a few exceptions. Crimson red is also the color of anger, hatred. Mostly negative, though there's one positive aspect to it."

"Oh…yeah…?" I muttered, afraid to hear any more about my aura's strange hue.

"It can also mean protectiveness. A burning desire to protect those close to the aura's user. It's one of the most meaningful colors, in fact, when interpreted in the right way. A rising sun capable of drawing on the power to protect those that are dear… it seems to suit your personality, in some strange way." Kai explained, to which I gladly accepted as the most likely reason for my aura's strange hue.

"Well, then. You wanna keep going, or do you want to stop here?"

"I'll keep going. I'm not that tired just yet."

"Alright, take a stance, any fighting stance, and close your eyes." Kai instructed.

I took a natural stance, and willed my aura to appear, until I felt a tingling feeling surrounding my skin.

"Good. Now picture your aura. It's color, it's texture, the feeling that you have with it bursting in full intensity around your body… feel it, with your mind, with your spirit, with your whole being." Kai instructed, clearly imitating that of an old guru, or at least that's how I thought of it in my mind.

I tried to. I pictured a crimson red aura around me, and I added the tingling feeling I had from having the aura burst into the mental projection. After a short while, Kai gave another set of instructions.

"Now, imagine it extending from your body. Raise your hand; imagine it extending in tendrils or waves. Picture it travelling to your palm, condensing into a sphere."

I did just that. Crimson red streaks of energy that came from my bursting aura, ones that stretched from their boundaries and travelled straight to the palm of my hand, creating a sphere of energy. I took it a step further, imagining that it slowly transformed into a yellow-green energy, become transparent yellow with a core in its center. Then I opened my eyes.

"Great work, Risk! That's Solar Beam! Now, release it!" Kai ordered, with renewed enthusiasm.

I pulled back my hand, before thrusting it forward again, letting loose the blast of energy. It clearly didn't have the desired effect. I was hoping that'd I'd get it this time, that a blast of yellow energy would erupt from my palm and strike the wall, crushing it. The only thing that was crushed was my dreams as the sphere flew away from my hand before fluttering to the ground like a wilting leaf, and giving out a mild 'pop' sound as it vanished.

"Ooookay…" Kai said, "Well, I didn't expect that you'd get it from the start, most aren't able to produce an actual emission attack until they practice for over two hundred times. It's that difficult."

"That's crazy!" I exclaimed, "That's it, I give up…" I dramatically collapsed on the ground.

Kai chuckled, before explaining, "Relax, you're doing fine. Just practice and practice and you'll get it eventually."

_Oh, well. I guess all I can do is practice._

"So, Kai. Are you able to produce an emission attack?"

"Oh… I'm able to use Vaccum Wave, and according to a book compiled with information on all possible moves available, it counts as a Rank B difficulty type of move, so I'd say I can produce an emission attack pretty well, unlike someone who only produces a yellow wisp." Kai said, evidently pointing a figurative finger at me.

"That's… SO UNFAIR!" I found myself crying, to which Kai replied with a simple 'hmph.'

And in the midst of all that was perfect, chaos arrived.

* * *

-Kai-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, Refuge Temple  
Date: Haenday, Prieam-Zexirius 33, D.L. 2116  
Time: 10:52 AM  
Historia: Present**

A blue blur crashed in from the ceiling, literally crushing the structure under the impact. The stone, rounded ceiling began to crack, and pieces of debris began falling from the sky. Risk and I quickly took to our feet, avoiding multiple falling rocks as they struck the ground, smashing the well-made beds, the stone table, and all of the usable equipment there. Thankfully, I had saved the bags, which contained all of our supplies, but we were far from safe. We now stood looking up for our high-speed attacker, and it wasn't long before he revealed himself.

The same dark blue blur crashed into the pile of debris, crushing the pile of rocks and the ground underneath, before standing up slowly which gave Risk and I plenty of time to freeze in fear. My Battle Interface activated, the green reticle enlarging and shrinking as multiple digital sounds vibrated in my ear, the scanning of our enemy taking place.

It was a clear dragon-type, with a red belly that stretched from its abdomen, to its jaws and the undersides of its clawed arm. Underneath the stretch of red was a gold diamond shape, and on its snout was a gold cross. It had a fin that resembled that of a shark, with three other fins, one on each arm and another on its dark blue tail. Two spikes were on each of its hind limbs and arms. It was wearing a white cape with gold linings, which I took as just an accessory. As I registered its appearance into my mind, which in turn inputted the data into the Battle Interface, the scanning finished.

**Garchomp, Mach Pokémon**

**Garchomp is the fully evolved form of Gible. A dragon-type, Garchomp can fly at sonic speeds, and the 'blades of wind' that follow after is said to even slice trees.**

**Current Enemy Status:  
Level: 67  
Held Item: None**

_Garchomp… He's a dragon-type, more powerful than anything we've ever faced… and what's with his ridiculous level! Sixty-seven is at least fifty levels higher than either of us! There's no way we'll be able to beat this guy!_

"Well, well. So these are the runaways that I was ordered to capture. What a joke. How did you two runts even give Team Delta a hard time?" He stood there, mouthing off at our assumed incompetence.

"Risk," I whispered as the Garchomp continued his annoying laughter, "this guy's level sixty-seven. We're not going to beat him." As soon as I had said it, Risk's eyes widened with fear. His usually cheerful and fierce crimson eyes had begun to tremble, and he was starting to tremble in fear himself.

"Listen, I'll distract him for a while. You go ahead and escape." He opened his mouth to protest, but I put one paw on his mouth and shut it.

"We don't have a choice. Besides, you need to stay alive. You're our 'salvation', remember?" I smirked, before walking towards the Garchomp, tossing Risk my sling bag full of supplies, ready to fight.

"Oh? What's this? Not cowering in fear anymore? Very interesting, now what do you say we begin?" The Garchomp stretched his claws as he prepared to attack, with a malicious grin that could only mean he was ready to slice me into pieces. Fortunately, I had somewhat of a plan in mind. After all, my goal wasn't to defeat him, it was to stall enough time for Risk to escape.

"Since you're ready," I said with a shaky voice, a failed attempt to summon my courage, "then let's begin!" I shouted, charging towards him. The Garchomp smirked at my attempt, as if it were futile, and just stood there as I prepared to attack, clearly overconfident of his abilities. I prepared a Force Palm, and did it dramatically so as to lure the Garchomp in. He took the bait, and his claw began to turn blue and he took a fighting stance.

I charged at him, lunging at the last moment acting as if I was going to strike him, and he fell for it, slashing his blue claw at me, which my Battle Interface identified as Dragon Claw, a blue streak striking the air just in front of me, as I used Agility to dash off to the right and around him, then striking him with Force Palm. A bright explosion went off in the dragon-type's face, and the explosion kicked up the dust and smoke from the rubble. I jumped back as the smoke cleared, but my eyes widened when I saw that not only did the Garchomp not sustain any damage, but he also hadn't even budged an inch from his original position.

"Is that all you've got? If that's it, then I'm going to finish this now, it's not going to be much fun." The Garchomp sighed as he turned away, not even bothering to look at me as if I were trash. For some reason, that pissed me off to hell.

"Tch. Don't worry, I've still got a couple of tricks left." I used Agility to charge the dragon-type, and the Garchomp just stood there, ready to take it. As I approached the dark blue dragon, he scoffed at me, and a feeling of dread suddenly washed over me. My instincts were proven right when his left claw started glowing bright blue once more, and he slashed at me. Using my reflexes, I managed to duck under his swipe, but all that I did was prolong my pain, as a second attack hit me right in the snout and sent my flying backwards, crashing into the pillars.

My vision was fuzzy as I hauled myself off the floor, and the Garchomp was still in his post-attack stance, his claw glowing white. That was when I came to a horrible realization, and when the full pain of the attack hit me. A sharp pain erupted in my stomach, causing me to collapse on the ground, clutching my stomach with both paws. The Battle Interface system was still active, the green reticle scanning the attack just used, identified as Brick Break.

_Brick Break… a fighting-type move. Not a good match up for me._

I shook my head left and right a couple of times, ignoring the throbbing headache at the back of my skull. My vision cleared, and I could clearly see my enemy and the surroundings again. Using part of the Battle Interface system, I began plotting out a battle path for me to take to ensure that I'd be able to land a hit on him, hopefully one that would push him back. It took me a good twenty seconds, but multiple plans were forming in my head, and even more contingencies behind them. I charged up a Vaccum Wave, and using Agility, I put my first plan into action.

I charged straight at the Garchomp once more, and he clearly underestimated my abilities as he prepared to use Dragon Claw in response again. At the point where I was just close enough to be out of his Dragon Claw's range, I fired the Vaccum Wave straight at him, and the collision between the two attacks stalled me some time. I dashed off to the right, preparing another Vaccum Wave as I approached the dragon from the back. Firing it, I crouched down and jumped high upwards as the attack met the dragon-type in the face.

As the smoke cleared, I launched myself from the ceiling and charged downwards, striking the dragon-type multiple times with Bullet Punch before sending him flying backwards with Force Palm. As he crashed into the wall, I stood triumphant at where he once stood.

"Perfect combination!" I couldn't help saying.

Although, my sense of victory soon faded as I saw the Garchomp appearing from the cloud of smoke, almost completely unharmed, with a bruise from where I focused my Bullet Punch and Force Palm. His eyes had become red with anger, a sight that sent my heart recoiling as I froze in fear for the next two seconds.

"Damn, that hurt… Guess I underestimated you, kid. Now, let's take this battle seriously, shall we?" A malicious grin appeared on his face, one that would've scared even Peleus.

The Garchomp crouched down, before leaping high into the air, a jumping distance that should've been impossible, before his whole body began glowing bright blue and he charged at me head-first at high speeds. Using Agility, I barely managed to dodge the attack as he crashed into the pedestal-like platform, and even then I didn't escape unscathed. Multiple fragments of rock whooshed past me, cutting my legs and arms, and I was left with a cut on my back, grazed from the Dragon Rush attack.

I somehow landed on my feet, thrusting my left arm onto the ground until I eventually came to a slow stop. But when I looked up, the Garchomp was no longer passive. A mass of blue light charged at me again, this time hitting me with full force. I was pushed back into the walls at great speeds, the impact causing me to cough up a moderate amount of blood, splattering it onto the ground and surrounding walls.

I lay in the stone rubble, clearly defeated after just two attacks from the dragon-type. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't get myself back into the battle this time, all I could focus on was bearing the pain of blood exiting my throat every three seconds. I felt something sharp grab my throat, and my paws instinctively reached for it as the pressure on my neck forced more blood up my throat and out of my mouth.

My vision registered a dark blue appendage, likely the claw of the Garchomp that had been effectively stained red by me. I felt my body being flung again, and a sharp pain jolted up my back as I crashed into another stone structure, covering my face in red-stained boulders. An arm grabbed me again, and this time put pressure on my neck, an attempt to suffocate me to death. My paws clawed at it constantly, but it showed no signs of stopping. I heard a faint shout and the grip loosened, returning my vision.

A green figure was combating the dark blue dragon-type, covering in a white light and charging the Garchomp back and forth. As my vision slowly reversed back to its high-resolution form, the green figure sharpened to form a Treecko. Risk…

"What… are you doing…? Risk…?" I managed to cough out, blood splattering on the ground as I tried to get up.

The Garchomp looked over at me, and so did Risk.

"So, you are still able to stand. I take back my words, you two would give Team Delta a hard time. I clearly underestimated your resolve." The Garchomp said. I didn't know whether to feel insulted or complimented. Those words could've been him acknowledging our efforts, or it could've be him saying that he was playing with us this whole time. That made me angry.

"Risk… Get away from here…" I said, limping towards the battle.

Risk rushed over to me and held me up as I slumped over, ready to collapse, his crimson eyes filled with concern as he stared at me.

"You… idiot…" I heard him whisper.

_What…?_

"You IDIOT!" He shouted into my ear, slapping me as he said it.

A dull pain on my left cheek combined with shock from what he just said and did was all that I could feel at that point.

"How could you… tell me… to leave you behind like that…?" His voice was laced with concern, but dripping with anger as tears welled up in his eyes.

"We're friends, aren't we?"

A jolt of realization resounded in me, as an old memory resurfaced in my mind.

**-Historia: Memory-**

"Hey, dad." I called out to Peleus.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"What's a… friend? I read about it in one of your books, but I didn't understand it."

"A friend… is a very complicated thing. It is someone you are willing to risk your life for, to die for, and it is someone who will return those feelings. It is someone you feel happy with, someone that will treasure your relationship. A friendship is a very complex thing, Kai; it is not something that can be created on a whim. It will take a lot of time to develop a close friendship."

"Huh… I've never had one… Do you think I'll get a friend one day?"

"Perhaps. And if you do, Kai, remember this. A friend is someone who cares about you an awful lot, and if you die, what do you think that friend will feel?"

"I suppose… that friend will feel sadness. Sadness that the person he cares about is dead."

"That is right. So, if you ever find a friend who cares about you that much, do not make him go through that sadness. You do not die for your friends; you live for them."

**-Historia: Present-**

_Of course… Peleus said it to me once. You don't die for your friends._

I forced myself to get up from Risk's support, as I prepared to face off the dragon-type once more.

_You live for them. And now, I'm not about to die for a friend._

"Risk." He turned and looked at me, "Let's finish this." He beamed with a smile, and nodded his head.

"Err… Are you guys done?" The Garchomp said with a mocking tone, "Because I'd like to kill you both now."

We both turned our heads towards him, both staring him down with a death glare, and the most peculiar exchange of words occurred.

"Then," I said.

"Why don't we-" Risk continued.

"End this?" I finished.

Both of us charged at him, me with Agility and Risk with Quick Attack. Our speed seemed to be fast enough for the Garchomp to stumble on the impact with Risk's Quick Attack, which I then followed up with Bullet Punch and Force Palm, and Risk charged after him with Quick Attack again. The Garchomp slashed at him with Dragon Claw, which Risk dodged by sidestepping and using Quick Attack once more to strike him from a diagonal position.

Using the dragon-type's momentary recoil, I charged at him with Force Palm again, striking him once more with the added power from his further crash into the destroyed wall. The dragon-type, from the darkness of the 'cave' charged at us, our eyes registering a bright blue light approaching closer and closer. Risk and I ran sideways in different directions with our high-speed skills, dodging the Dragon Rush by a long way.

Stopping mid-dash, I somersaulted and pushed off using my feet and Agility, meeting Risk midway in the air, him striking the dragon-type with Quick Attack from one side and me using Force Palm from the other. The attacks' recoil force cancelled each other out, as Risk fell back to the ground, I sent the Garchomp back into the wall with Bullet Punch. Risk was already in pursuit, a white flash impacting a dark blue figure and the screams of pain could be heard from the dragon.

I landed on my feet, just in time to see Risk dash off to the side and the Garchomp charging again with Dragon Rush, which I met midway with Agility, using Force Palm to mediate the potential damage, and Risk attacked the dragon with Quick Attack once more from the side, his blind spot. We stood there for a good five seconds, and not any response came from our enemy, but we knew better than to underestimate his abilities.

Our instincts were proven right when an ominous purple glow of energy shone from the darkness, and instantly the reticle appeared in my sight to scan the attack. We didn't have time to wait, though. A blast of purple energy charged towards us at top speeds, which we dodged using our attacks, the beam barely grazing us. Risk took less damage due to his Quick Attack absorbing some of it, but my Agility didn't really help me. A burning gash appeared on my left arm, cutting through the white bandages that I always wore there.

Luckily, it didn't cut through what the bandages were supposed to cover, so I breathed a sigh of relief, before a white flash whooshed past me and struck the dragon-type. I took the opportunity, crossing my arms over my body and gathering energy from the surroundings. Opening my eyes, I slashed my arms outwards as Risk's Quick Attack pushed the Garchomp back. A wave of energy flew towards the Garchomp, striking him straight in the snout, as he collapsed on the ground.

Risk walked over to me, a beaming smile on his face, "Kai! We did it!"

I smiled.

_We did it. Thanks, Risk._

And then, a dark blue blur whooshed past Risk, and he was no longer where he once stood.

* * *

-Risk-

**Location: Templar's Sanctuary, Refuge Temple  
Date: Haenday, Prieam-Zexirius 33, D.L. 2116  
Time: 11:31 AM  
Historia: Present**

"Damn it…" I uttered, as the pressure on my head increased.

"Well, well. I might have underestimated you two a little. Despite being about fifty levels below me, that barrage of attacks really did hurt. My apologies. I really should just kill you right now." The dragon type with his claw on my head said.

I felt a sharp pain poke just above my left eye, and a red liquid began dripping down, avoiding my eyes and the steady stream curved before ending on the floor, drop by drop. My vision began to blur as the crimson liquid began dripping faster and faster, and my eyes slowly drifted over to Kai, who was just standing there, facing down the Garchomp.

"Let him go!" I heard Kai say, taking a step towards me.

"Ah ah ah… you really shouldn't do that. Or do you want this kid's head to burst?" To prove his point, he put more pressure on the claw that was piercing my head, and the stream of crimson liquid became larger, now creating a miniature puddle of blood. A throbbing pain followed after the sharp sting, like a massive headache that wouldn't go away.

"No… stop…" I heard Kai mutter.

"Good, now, walk over here slowly, and don't try anything funny. Or this kid's head goes."

_No… Kai… don't… not for me…_

Kai heeded the bastard dragon's instructions, slowly walking over to me, his eyes defeated with no intent of fighting. Not while my life was on the line.

"Good. Now, don't move."

The Garchomp raised his free claw in the air, and it began blazing with a blue light. Dragon Claw. One strike without any resistance, and Kai's life would end right there.

_I can't lose him. I can't._

I forced myself to lift my head despite the intense pain it was feeling, using my hands to haul myself off the ground despite the piercing claw still on me. The Garchomp halted his attack and turned his attention to me, and instead of resisting my attempts, he grabbed me and held my by my head, before switching his grip to my neck. Despite all that, I had barely any energy to resist, so I couldn't do a thing.

"So… you still resist? Maybe I should kill you first then…" The Garchomp's eyes turned sadistic.

"No… don't… please…" Kai began to utter in fear.

"Well, then. Allow me to grant your wish!" The Garchomp's claw came down on me, but it stopped when I finally spoke.

"Stop…"

"Hmm?" The dragon-type halted his claw.

"We're not some couple of toys for you to play with…" I muttered, before glaring my eyes at his, "first you hurt my best friend… and then you use me to get to him… that is… unforgiveable." I felt my aura spike, and a tingling feeling went through my eyes.

"What…?" The Garchomp's expression changed to one of questioning.

"Unforgiveable… you will not leave here alive." I heard myself say.

A sphere of yellow energy condensed in my hands, attracting the Garchomp's attention as his expression changed to one of fear. The sphere blasted the Garchomp's snout, forcing him to release his grip as he recoiled backwards, smashing straight into the stone pillar. I landed on my feet gently, my aura now creating an intense pressure on the surroundings as Kai's expression changed to one of shock. My vision slowly turned red, red with pure anger.

_I won't forgive him… he… he toyed with Kai's feelings… he hurt Kai… he was about to kill him… he deserves to die. Die._

A yellow light gathered in my palm, condensing into a translucent sphere with a core. I raised my palm, and a blast of energy erupted from the sphere, striking the dragon-type straight in the chest. Then my frenzy began, as the sphere remained in my palm after each blast, repeatedly striking the Garchomp all over his body. His snout, his stomach, his head. All fell prey to each blast of solar energy.

I felt Kai watching me, as I let my consciousness fall prey to this carnage, with my mind only bent on taking revenge on the Garchomp, returning the pain he had dealt ten times over… over and again. I walked slowly towards him, each blast still releasing itself from the sphere I held in my palm. I didn't get tired and I didn't enjoy it. It just felt… right. To repay this monster for all the pain he had dealt. To force him to experience the same pain we had felt.

_Die… die… die… die!_

I halted the Solar Beam barrage and charged towards him, striking him in the stomach with Quick Attack, before thrusting my palms into his head and stomach, each firing a point-blank Solar Beam that sent the dragon-type flying through the stone pillar and crashing into the stone wall behind. I landed on the ground once more, this time both palms holding a condensed yellow sphere, as I prepared to finish this battle.

From both my hands, two blasts of energy struck the dark blue dragon, a continuous yellow beam that left the dragon-type coughing out blood that stained the ground and walls bright red. His tormented expression showed clearly that he was racked with pain, suffering in agony as the two beams of energy blasted him continuously, constantly dealing him massive pain. Then I put my palms together, a massive beam finally striking the dragon-type and piercing through his body, splattering blood all over, and ending the battle once and for all.

I felt my aura and muscles relax, and the tingling feeling that was in my eyes vanished. My hands relaxed and returned to the position beside my body, as I looked at my handiwork, the corpse of the dead dragon with a gigantic hole pierced through his body. And yet, I was filled with so much rage… he was dead, and yet I wanted to kill him over and over again…

"Risk!"

A voice snapped me out of my trance. I turned to see Kai standing there, as he walked over to me and gave me a tight slap on my cheek. I collapsed on the ground, using one hand to rub the place that he had hit, and looked up at the angry fighting-type. His eyes now had anger laced in them, but they slowly relaxed as time passed, before he offered his paw to me, which I took.

"Thank goodness you're alright. I was worried for a while there." He said.

"Why…" I muttered, which drew Kai's attention.

"Why… are you angry? We defeated him." I asked.

And Kai showed his annoyance by slapping me once more, this time not hard enough to land me on the floor.

"Why I'm angry, you ask? You almost died. You almost sacrificed yourself for me. Tell me, how could I not be angry?!"

_He's angry… because I almost died for him?_

I looked down, "Sorry…"

Then he patted my head like I was a kid and said, "That's alright! Just promise me you won't do that again!"

I found my smile returning as I beamed at Kai, "Sure! I promise!"

He smiled too, before walking over to the entrance, on the other side of the room, and grabbing the two sling bags that had been left on the floor there.

"Good. Now, we should-"

Multiple crashes through the ceiling and massive Pokémon appeared before us again. They came in all shapes and sizes, some with wings, some without, but one thing they had in common with the Garchomp: they were all wearing white capes with gold linings. They were on his side.

"Well, well! They actually managed to defeat Aecor! That's a surprise." A monkey with a flame tuft on his head said.

"Then, I suppose we'll have to take care of them." A humanoid bug with silver wings and a red body appeared.

"I'll catch them." A blue colored cat appeared with a blank expression, before her eyes began glowing light blue.

"Run, Risk!" Kai shouted, grabbing my hand and making for the exit, but it was too late. A blue glow surrounded us, forcefully lifting us up from the ground and over to them, clearly the cat's doing. The cat dumped the two of us in the middle of the three Pokémon that were present, and immediately the other two caught us by our arms to restrain us, tossing the sling bags we had aside.

"Let us go!" I shouted.

"I'm afraid not. We have to finish the job Aecor failed to. Ravice, kill the boy." He was obviously referring to the red bug-type, who clamped his claws tighter on Kai's paws, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Got it… just lemme have some fun. I haven't killed anyone in two weeks." A sadistic grin crept onto his face as he released Kai's partially crushed left hand and gripped his stomach, eliciting a pained scream from Kai that pierced my ears. I felt a feeling of dread and shock jolt me, as the red bug-type's claws began slowly tracing Kai's body, leaving a trail of blood wherever it touched.

Kai's fur was stained red, and he kept screaming in pain as a thin, nearly invisible cut sliced across his body, caused by the bug-type's claws tracing his fur. I felt fear, and I froze, drowning in my own worthlessness, unable to do a thing but watch as Kai screamed in pain, and the sadistic bastard enjoyed the carnage.

"Enjoy the sight, kid?" The fire-type monkey whispered into my ears. That was the last straw. Anger welled up in me, as I thought of what they were really doing here. They weren't here to kill us quickly; they were here to torture us, until we ran out of painful screams, when we were literally begging for death. That thought made me vengeful, filled with rage.

"Leave him alone…"

The bug-type stopped, and all three of our attackers looked over at me, for what reason I didn't know. Their faces began to stare at me in fear, and the bug-type released the unconscious Kai as I felt my aura spike beyond measure. A painful yet great feeling, and my soul relished in the power that surged through my body. My crimson aura slowly morphed into one of pure white, and the energy blasted into the air and all around me, an intense pressure that caused even the three assaulters to step a couple steps back.

"Leave him alone!" I heard myself say, before my vision whited out, and I felt unconsciousness take me.

* * *

-3rd Person-

**Location: ?  
Date: ?  
Time: ?  
Historia: ?**

Where am I…?

**Welcome, Risk.**

What? Who are you?!

**My name… it is not something that you should know just yet.**

Then, where am I?

**That would be a simple question, and yet, it is not something you should know just yet. Your powers have yet to awaken, young Treecko.**

My powers?

**Indeed. Your powers. The true essence of time lay inside you, young one. You have yet to learn to use and control it. Your first time, painful as it may be, felt great, didn't it?**

You mean that flash of light? Yes… it did feel great. A surging power throughout my body, it was the first time I felt like that. It felt great to finally have the upper hand, after being left helpless so many times.

**Indeed. This is a grand power, and you must learn to control it. It is not something that you should be misusing. Abusing this power will lead to your ultimate destruction. I want you to remember this.**

You still haven't told me what this power is.

**It is something for you to discover for yourself. But do take in mind your friend's father's words. The Arc of Legend.**

Right… Peleus said that I would most likely possess the Arc of Dialga or Celebi.

**Yes, he was very intuitive. Indeed, the power that has been granted unto you. The Arc of Legend, the legendary strength that shall bring salvation to the world. And it is inside you, to use this power is the chance to save the world your friend loves, and to misuse it is to herald your own destruction.**

Then, can you tell me… is Kai safe?

**Yes, he will be safe. Whenever you will end up, I will not know. However, trust in your friend, and trust in yourself, and you shall bring about a revolution. You shall be, as you friend wishes, the world's salvation. **

But… what if I'm not up to it? I can barely fight as well as Kai!

**Doubt is the first step to demise, young Pokémon. You should never doubt yourself. Trust in yourself, if no one else. The trust you put in your own heart should never waver, no matter the situation or consequence. **

Then, I'd better make sure to save this world. I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone.

**Indeed. You now seem to have a firm grasp on your purpose, and with that comes a clear view on your true goal.**

Thanks, strange voice. Still, can I ask?

**Go ahead. What would you like to know?**

I'm human, that much I'm sure. After I'm done with saving the world and all, will I be able to return home?

**That will be entirely up to you, young one. When you are done with your journey, then will you be able to decide whether or not you really want to return.**

What are you saying? Of course I want to return! That's the whole point I've been through all this, isn't it?

**That's what you say, but when it comes to it, I am not so sure you will think the same. You are about to wake, young one. I hope to see you again, the next time. In a distant future…**

Wait… wait…

…

…

…

**When we next meet, young one, you will be more powerful than you have ever imagined. May this key bring you hope and light in the darkest despair.**

**Next time, I will answer your questions, in the real world.**

**Goodbye for now, "Risk". It is a great name you have chosen.**

**The light that will risk anything to protect its friends, Risk. Your light, stronger than all.**

* * *

_A blazing friendship, ties stronger than steel…_

_The dormant power burst, now unsealed._

_Light and hope scatter across the sky…_

_The world's salvation hidden in his eye._


	5. Chapter 4: Awaken

**Team Statistics:**

**-Risk:  
Species: Treecko  
Ability: Overgrow  
Level: 15  
Held Item: Mysterious Pendant**

**-Kai:  
Species: Riolu  
Ability: Steadfast  
Level: 17  
Held Item: Battle Interface**

* * *

Arc of Legends

Act 1: Essence of Time

Chapter 4: Awaken

-Kai-

**Location: ?  
Date: ?  
Time: ?  
Historia: Present**

I opened my eyes as my line of sight was pierced with a bright eye to my left. My vision remained blurry as I cocked my head over to the side without the energy to move the rest of my body, and I saw what looked to be a window with the curtains flowing in the wind, the sun shining through it with rays of light. With sleep in my eyes, I hauled myself off the comfy thing I was lying on, and soon found myself sitting up with my back against the wall.

My vision cleared as my paws reached for my eyes, rubbing them until I could see normally again. Strength returned to my body after an apparent long time of sleep, and I turned my head left and right to survey the room I was in. It was a simple bedroom, with only a bed and a desk and several ornaments hung on the wall. The windows were draped in green curtains, and the brown wooden door was closed. Except, the bed wasn't as advanced, with it only being a pile of soft leaves that had been arranged together to form a comfortable bed.

_Where…am…I? Nothing seems familiar… And there certainly wasn't any sunlight back at the Templar's Sanctuary. What happened?_

Millions of questions rushed through my mind, and my paws were crossed as I sat upright on the bed (a.k.a pile of leaves) thinking about them. I was so deep in thought I didn't notice the door open and a figure enter the room until the figure let out a cough, obviously to attract my attention. I instantly looked up to see a Pokémon standing there, with a feminine feel to her.

"You're awake, thank goodness. But really, thinking so hard about thousands of questions like that will make your head explode." The female Pokémon said.

I was about to answer, until I realized that I had yet to introduce myself. In one move, I flipped myself off the ground until I was standing up, with my paw extended for a handshake.

"Thanks for saving me, I think. My name's Kai."

She took my paw with her hand and said, "Thanks for not asking so many questions in the first five seconds we met. My name's Lisianthus. You can call me Liz, Kai. C'mon, you look like you have questions that need answering, why don't we talk about it over some tea?"

As she turned to leave, I stretched my left paw to my right wrist and tapped the bracelet, silently activating the Battle Interface's scanner. The green reticle appeared once more, hovering over the female's silhouette as I followed her out to the living room, where a pot of tea was boiling with three empty cups beside it. As she sat down and I noticed the features of her demeanor, the scanning completed as a digital voice resounded in my head.

**Buneary, Rabbit Pokémon**

**Buneary's ears are always rolled up, but when threatened it can use them to smash large boulders.**

_A Buneary… never heard of them before. Maybe they're extinct? But that's impossible, since there's one right here… What's going on here?_

"Now," The Buneary said, pouring the tea into two of the three cups, "why don't you have a seat, and I'll try to answer all your questions."

I took the seat opposite her, plopping myself down on the cushioned chair as she offered me the cup of tea. I looked at it for a second, noticing the pink lilac color of it, before lifting the cup and taking a sip. It had a slightly sweet taste, with a sour aftertaste. I looked up at her, and she was slowly sipping the same tea, with her eyes closed as if she was enjoying it greatly. It was then I noticed a silver earring in the shape of a eight-pointed star on her left ear, which only seemed to add to her beauty.

I placed the cup of tea back on the silvery plate, and asked, "So, you said you would answer my question. First, where am I?"

"That's an easy one." She said, freeing her mouth from the flowing lilac liquid, "You are currently at my house, situated at the top of Crescent Hill."

"Crescent Hill… never heard of it before. How did I get here, then?"

She took another sip of the tea, before answering, "I was taking a delightful walk through the nearby Crescent Woods, when I saw the two of you sprawled on the ground, injured and unconscious. I brought you back here and healed you both up."

"Both… you mean Risk, right?" I asked.

"If by 'Risk', you mean that Treecko I found you with, then yes. He's still sleeping in the other room. In fact, he should be awake any time now."

I heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit, but my mind continued to press for answers, so I asked, "This place is vibrant and all… which part of the world is this? Sector 66? I heard there's the only remaining place with grass-types, though they're all rumors."

"Sector…? What are you talking about? This is the Pierce Region. We don't actually classify locations as 'Sectors'."

_Pierce Region? I don't remember anything like that in Peleus' books… Where are we, really?_

"That's weird… I've never heard of the Pierce Region. Is this even Lyeris?"

"Of course this is Lyeris! Our world is divided into five different regions, each ruled by a different council. Our region, the Pierce Region, is the second largest region in the world and is ruled by the Stryke Council."

"I've never even heard of any of those terms! I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Calm down, Kai." A familiar voice chimed.

My head turned, as did Liz's, to see a familiar face standing there almost fully healed. Risk.

"Risk! You're fine!" I couldn't help shouting in joy.

"Of course I'm fine! I won't be dying any time soon!" Risk said happily.

"So, you're awake. Feeling any better?" Liz asked.

"I'm fine. You've really helped a lot." He turned to face Liz, and that was when I noticed it.

There was a fine string around his neck, coming together to hold a very peculiar object like a necklace. It looked like an arrow that was being held from its fletching, pointing downwards. The arrow had three heads, and the fletching was arced backwards, with two spikes on each side to resemble evil-looking wings.

_That's strange… I've never seen him wearing that before… Where did he…_

Risk obviously noticed my expression, because he asked, "What's wrong, Kai?"

"Risk… that pendant around your neck. Where did you get it?"

"Oh," He paused and reached for the necklace, "this? I don't really know. I found it on me when I woke up. I just thought I should keep it, even if it looks really creepy." He then turned to Liz, "Anyway, you guys were arguing about where we are, right?"

Liz and I nodded our heads in unison.

"Then, I think I've got the answer. Liz, what's the date?"

"The date?" She paused to think about it, "Serinday, Leneryia-Alhalium 36, D.L. 2021."

_D.L. 2021…? Wait, WHAT!?_

"Wait, wait, wait! D.L. 2021? Isn't it supposed to be D.L. 2116?" I burst out, slamming my paws on the table and nearly toppling the cup of tea.

"What are you talking about!?" Liz stood up slamming her hands on the table, "I may have lived away from civilization for a while, but I'm not one to mistake the date, you know?"

"Calm down, you two." Risk said, interrupting our outbursts, as we turned our heads to him.

"Both of you are perfectly sane. Kai, don't go blaming Liz. We've travelled ninety-five years in the past, just as I suspected."

_Just as you suspected?_

"What do you mean? You knew all along?" I questioned.

"Well, not exactly… I got a visit from someone while I was asleep. At first, I thought it was nothing, but after going over and over the conversation again and again, that adding that to the notion that I might possess the Arc of Dialga or Celebi, it made sense. The voice said, 'Whenever you will end up, I do not know.' 'When' means he was referring to the time, or date. Then the Arc of Dialga and the Arc of Celebi is a time-based Arc of Legend, so it became clear to me. We probably travelled to the past or future by accident."

"Huh…" I muttered in awe of Risk's thinking.

_I wonder how long it took him to get to that conclusion._

"It did take me around three hours to come to that, but it's all good, seeing as you guys have done nothing but argue while I was asleep." He said sarcastically, referring to Liz and me.

I felt myself blushing, and Liz's face had completely turned beet red, so I extended my paw towards her, "Risk's right. We shouldn't be really arguing about something like this. Sorry."

She took it and said, "Nah, I'm the one to blame. I shouldn't be flaring up just because you're a little confused. Sorry." As we shook hands, coming to a consensus, I could just feel Risk flashing that cheeky smile at me.

I whipped my head around as I let go of Liz's hand and gave a death stare to Risk. The cheeky smile then shifted to an apologetic one, but I could just swear I saw the hint of playfulness in his eyes…

"Anyway," I said, breaking the weird tension, "This should confirm that Risk possesses either the Arc of Dialga or the Arc of Celebi. We can't tell which one yet, but-"

"Which one of them is a blue quadruped dragon?" Risk interrupted.

"That would be Dialga." Liz answered.

"Then I have the Arc of Dialga! We don't have to worry about that any more." Risk happily said, joining us at the table as Liz and I sat down, Liz pouring him a cup of the lilac-colored tea.

"Wait, wait, wait! When did this happen? How can you be so sure?" I asked him.

"Simple." He paused to take a sip of the tea, which he seemed to enjoy, "Remember when I was asleep back in D.L. 2116? That picture of the Pokémon I saw? It was a blue quadruped dragon with a crystal in its chest and silvery fins."

"You saw Dialga in your dreams… That does sound like it confirms the identity of your Arc of Legend." Liz agreed, nodding her head and she lifted the cup of tea.

"I still don't get it… you saw Dialga in your dreams and you passed it off as 'a picture of a Pokémon'!?"

"What? I didn't know what it was at the time!" He threw his hands up in surrender, almost as if begging me not to kill him for it.

I relaxed and sipped the tea, which seemed to have a calming effect. The lilac liquid was drained in ten seconds, and I passed the cup to Liz, who refilled all of our cups.

Now calm, I asked, "By the way, Liz, how did you know about the Arc of Legends? As far as the history books show, the Arc of Legends was considered a myth in the early 21st century."

"That's simple. I'm one, after all."

I almost blurted out my tea as I heard that, though Risk remained calm and nodded his head in agreement.

"I guess that makes sense. Just out of curiosity, Liz, what legendary Pokémon do you represent?" Risk asked, sipping more of the lilac liquid.

"I'm the Arc of Cresselia, Maiden of The Moon. My powers focus mostly on healing injuries, so I've been travelling the world as a healer. Though, recently, I've returned here to Crescent Hill because it was one of the first vacation spots my family used to bring me to. You know, nostalgia and such." She said calmly.

"That's good to know. So, what should we do know?" I asked.

"Well, I suppose you two should at least figure out what to do, now that you're here. I don't suppose you two know how to get back to your time, do you?" Liz asked, to which Risk and I just shook our head violently.

"Then, perhaps you two should seek out someone who will be able to know something about your situation. I think you should bring this matter to Arten."

"Arten? Who's that?" I asked, Risk too busy sipping his tea to bother questioning.

"Arten is an old friend of mine. He is currently serving as one of the Stryke Council's 'Five Blades', the council's best fighters in the Pierce Region. He is very influential in the council, having served as one of their members for a period of time. I haven't been to visit him in four years, having stayed away from civilization and all, but I think he will be able to help." Liz explained.

"You sound like an old lady, Liz." Risk said, "How old are you, really? You don't sound that old."

"I'm actually seventeen this year. But I have yet to evolve, so I actually look much younger than other Buneary. Most of our kind evolves by the age of sixteen, so I'm kind of late in evolution."

"Ah." Was all Risk had to say to that.

"Could you help us then? We don't know a thing about this world, and we could really use your help finding this 'Arten'."

"Sure. Just let me grab my things. Your bags were destroyed when I found you, so I replaced them. They're in your room." She then left the table and entered a room beside mine, closing the door gently accompanied with the unfamiliar sound of a lock turning.

"Kai… I'm sorry." I heard Risk say.

I turned to him in confusion, and he continued, "It's because of me we're stuck here, isn't it? You're away from the place you call home, and from the people you call family… All because of me… all for my sake…" His head drooped.

I walked over to him, not quite sure what to say, and put my paw on his head, "It's fine. You're…" I paused as I felt my throat constrict at the thought of saying it, before I thought about Risk's feelings and relaxed, continuing my sentence, "You're my friend, aren't you? And I'm here for you, no matter what you say."

He looked up at me hopefully, and I released my paw from his head, "Besides, this place is way better than the apocalyptic place we were in." I said, hoping to lighten the mood.

He smiled, "Yeah! Now that we're here, we should make the most of this chance!" His happy demeanor returned as he got up from the seat and walked back to his room, most likely to grab his stuff. I returned to my room, and gathered the stuff that had been sprawled all over the floor, placing them neatly in the satchel that Liz had provided, also grabbing the supplies that had been laid on the floor, likely by Liz for me.

I went over the items that I had in my bag.

_Five Oran Berries… Three Apples… One Quick Seed, Blast Seed, Reviver Seed and Heal Seed… and finally, an orb. An orb? What is this…?_

I picked up the translucent blue glass orb that I had absentmindedly placed in my bag, and looked at it intently, wondering what it was. That was when Liz entered my room, the click of the door unnoticeable now that I wasn't half-asleep, and I removed the orb from my line of sight to look up at Liz.

"What are you- Oh, so you found that."

"What is this?" I asked Liz.

"That's an Escape Orb. It's supposed to be an emergency exit from Mystery Dungeons. They're not that rare, but it's one of the few ones that I have in this house, so take care of it. And don't use it unless you need to." Liz explained.

"Ah… okay then." I placed the orb in my bag and closed it, grabbing it by the strap and standing up, realizing that the bag wasn't that heavy at all.

"Wow… this is… surprisingly light." I remarked.

"Oh, that's because the bag is made of a special leather. I don't really know much about the details, but supposedly it reduces the stress on the person carrying the bag." She explained.

"Well, that's handy." I said, as Liz and I left the room, with me shutting the door as I did. Outside the house, Risk was already waiting for us patiently, staring into the bright cloudless blue sky with a wondering face, pacing left and right across the grass field that led down the hill.

_Must be thinking about… his past or something. He better not be blaming himself again._

"Risk!" I called out, and he turned his head, snapping out of his daze.

"Oh, Kai! You're done packing, huh? I didn't have that much to pack, so I didn't take as long. Let's go, then. We need to find Arten!" Risk said cheerfully.

I smiled, "Yeap. So, Liz, how are we going to find Arten?"

"Well," She paused, as she raised one hand to point in a certain direction, "The Stryke Council's headquarters, Kiora, is a gigantic building located in the eastern edge of the Pierce Region. To get there, we'd have to pretty much travel across the whole continent, but I have a quicker way."

"Oh, yeah? Explain, if you would, mademoiselle." I bowed sarcastically, to which Liz just rolled her eyes.

"We'll travel through Crescent Woods pretty quickly, seeing as it's not a Mystery Dungeon, but on the other side of the forest, there's a mountain in our way, if we want to get to Kiora the fastest way. We'll have to go through Corona Cavern, which is a Mystery Dungeon, one that I've found no need to visit before. After Corona Cavern, the other side of the mountain we'll get to Zlaize Village, which is where we'll take a break. At the pace we should be going, we'll reach Kiora in under five days at best, and a week at worst." Liz explained.

"Okay, then! We should get to Corona Cavern right away then!" Risk said as he hopped down the hill towards the forest below.

Liz and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders at Risk's peculiar enthusiasm, and followed him down.

* * *

-Risk-

**Location: Crescent Woods  
Date: Serinday, Leneryia-Alhalium 36, D.L. 2021  
Time: 8:01 AM  
Historia: Present**

I walked in front of them, humming a familiar tune as I took step by step slowly enjoying the fresh morning air. Grey birds flew through the air, which I heard Kai remarking, identifying them as Pidove, a species of bird Pokémon that was common in the Pierce Region, according to Liz. Whilst Liz and Kai were enjoying a lovely conversation about the Pierce Region and its geography and biology, my mind was drifting off thinking about two separate things.

First, that thing about the Arc of Dialga… It was a formidable power, that much was sure, with the way Kai and Liz talked about it you'd think it was some legendary hero that EVERYONE knew about or something. We confirmed that I possessed it, and we also confirmed that I had used it before, but using it once and learning to use in indefinitely were two separate things. I had to learn how to use it, if we were going to get out of this time period. Otherwise, we'd be stuck here.

The second thing was much more lewd than the first and way more unimportant. I couldn't help noticing how Kai and Liz kept blushing at each other, particularly when they were shaking hands and making up. Those death eyes that Kai glared at me with confirmed my suspicions. They were in love with each other~

_Haha! I can't wait to see how this relationship develops. Maybe I can find some trick to get them to confess their feelings to each other…!_

"Risk, what's with that expression on your face?" Kai asked questioningly.

I quickly spun around and retorted, "Nothing! Nothing! I'm just thinking about some things, that's all." I then continued walking, but not before I saw Kai give me that suspicious look, like he was reading half my mind.

I felt my heart pound for a moment, but then I slowly relaxed as I listened to the voice of the forest, quite literally the feral Pokémon present in Crescent Woods. The sun was shining through the countless leaves upon the trees, propped up on two separate hills beside the path we were walking through. I still remembered Kai's explanation about feral Pokémon just yesterday… I suppose it would be yesterday, 95 years in the future.

He had said that feral Pokémon could be classified into two different groups, purely feral, and bestial Pokémon. Purely feral Pokémon could be easily angered, and would most likely fight upon sight, since they are commonly highly territorial. Bestial Pokémon, on the other hand, were half-sentient, and had more intelligence than the everyday feral. Naturally, there were only bestial Pokémon in this forest, so we were relatively safe for now.

After about twenty minutes, we had traversed through the forest's easy path, and arrived at the entrance of a cave, carved into the side of a mountain that looked like 100,000 times my size. It wasn't anything interesting, but I did notice some runic designs carved into the ground, a hollow, semi-circular construction that curved from the two edges of the cave, kind of like a bridge, except it was carved on the ground.

"What's that?" I had to ask.

As Liz and Kai walked up beside me to see what I was talking about, Kai shrugged his shoulders and Liz chimed in with the explanation.

"That's my doing. I've been into Corona Cavern a couple of times before, just not recently. That marking is meant to signify the entrance or exit of the cave. Each Mystery Dungeon has a fixed entrance and exit, so markings like these are left by explorers from all over Lyeris."

"I see…" I looked at Kai and saw that his eyes had changed from their natural cyan hue to something I would describe as ghostly white.

"Kai, what are you doing? Your eyes look really… creepy." I shuddered at the idea of staring at those eyes for a long time. I think I'd faint.

"Oh, this? This is 'Aura Sight', a natural ability for those of the Riolu-Lucario lineage, since our species are naturally attuned to aura more than others. This ability allows me to see aura with my naked eyes, with the precision and sharpness 1000 times the natural naked eye." Kai explained.

"What do you see?" Liz asked curiously.

"I see… a faint aura arch over the cave's entrance, stemming from the two edges of the carving on the ground. It must signify the entrance of the cave. That runic arrangement must be specially crafted for this purpose."

"Interesting…" I heard Liz mumble, "But never mind about that, we should get going if we want to make it to Kiora in five days."

Kai and I could only agree as the three of us stepped through the runic arrangement, and into the Mystery Dungeon.

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area I**

As we walked through the muddy grounds of the caverns, I couldn't help but take in the sights that were present inside the originally dull cave. True to its name, Corona Cavern was a cave filled with glowing and radiant red crystals that resembled the bright shine of the sun in a cloudless sky. As we walked through the relatively silent first area of the cave, Liz broke out into explanations again, though this time I couldn't blame her, since I was so intrigued by everything in here.

"Corona Cavern was once said to be the entrance to a secret Mystery Dungeon, and that once you reached the true end of the cave you could transcend your mortality and reach a groundless sky." She paused, "Though that's only a legend. No one's actually managed to find the 'true end' of Corona Cavern. As far as everyone knows, it's just a pathway through this mountain with an entrance and an exit."

We continued exploring the first area, and Liz was walking ahead of us as Kai fumbled with his 'Battle Interface' system, evident by the fact that he was randomly swiping his paw left and right and in all sorts of directions in the air in front of him, likely a projection by the system. As for me, I tried not to think about my past and my lost memories, since I wouldn't be able to stop thinking if I did, and I really needed my wits about me here.

I shuddered as I recalled that sadistic Lairon at the end of the Templar's Sanctuary. If we encountered something like that again here, my only comfort would be that Kai and I had gone up a few levels, and that Liz would be here to help us, if needed. Meanwhile, to occupy my mind, I took in the sights of the red glowing crystals, admiring their glow and how they managed to keep the whole cave lit up like torches hung upon the walls.

Also, to overcome my sheer boredom of the silence, I kept myself busy by overlooking the supplies that I had on hand.

_Escape Orb, Luminous Orb, Three Oran Berries…_ I mentally counted, remembering the brief lecture on orbs that Liz had given me beforehand.

Luckily, my boredom ceased to be when a feral Pokémon appeared before us, ready to strike. The temple that is supposed to be found at the true end of Corona Cavern was once used to worship the Pokémon of Victory, one that often embodied the sun, Victini, Liz had said. Due to this, the Pokémon that inhabited the caves of Corona Cavern were purely fire-types, unlike the rock and steel-types of before.

That gave us a bit of trouble, since both Kai and I had a natural weakness to fire-types. And the first feral that appeared had already begun its attack. It was a red-brown fox with six tales, and it was spewing a whirlwind of flames at our group.

"It's a Vulpix!" Kai identified, the faint green reticle circling his left iris, "That's Flame Wheel! Dodge it!" The two of us heeded his commands as all three of us dashed for the cave walls on either sides as the whirling flames seared past us.

"I'll land the first strike! Kai, support me!" Liz shouted, charging towards the red fox.

The feral Vulpix responded to Liz's aggression, firing another whirlwind of flames, which Liz dodged with ease and grace, dashing towards the cave walls and using the wall as a launcher as she somersaulted over the flaming whirlwind like an acrobat, and in mid-air pointing one hand at the fire-type, as her hand starting glowing sky blue.

"Ice Beam!" A blast of blue energy released itself from Liz's palm, striking the fire-type with a direct hit, countering the flaming whirlwind and causing the Vulpix to recoil in pain. Kai immediately followed up the attack with Force Palm, but not before gesturing me to finish up. I continued the three-prong assault, and as the Vulpix flew backwards from the Force Palm, I finished it, smashing it straight into the wall with a white flash.

The Vulpix fainted as it dropped from the point in the wall where I had smashed it, and the three of us stopped moving for a moment to catch our breaths.

"Well…" Kai breathed, "That was… exhausting. Goddamn fire-types…"

"I'd rather have one on our side…" I managed to say.

"That was just our first battle, we should get going." Liz said, getting to her feet again and continuing the walk through the cavern.

Right on cue, the circular purple hole appeared in the dungeon's atmosphere, the gate to the next area.

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area II**

"Argh! I hate caves!" I couldn't help lamenting.

The cave walls all looked the same, brown and rugged and lined with red crystals. While the crystals were beautiful, they were hardly any consolation since the cave walls were near identical and it was becoming a pain to navigate through them. Especially since this was a Mystery Dungeon, the layout of the place would change every second we were in here, which meant the places we had passed before wouldn't be the same if we were to go back.

"Calm down, Risk. It's not that bad. We'll be out of here soon." Kai soothed.

"He's right," Liz said, "we entered here at approximately 8:20 AM. It's only been about five minutes and we cleared the first area. We'll be out of here soon, if we don't run into anything nasty, that is…"

"Please don't jinx the situation more than it is. I really don't want to run into something like that Lairon again. And it'll probably be a fire-type, we won't have the type advantage from last time." Kai said, shuddering at the memory, same as me.

"Hey! What's that up ahead?" I pointed forward, at the light that was pouring into the cave.

"It couldn't be the exit, could it?" Kai twisted his head backwards and directed the question at Liz.

"No, we're only at the second area of the dungeon. As far as I know, Corona Cavern is a five-floor dungeon." She explained.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm checking it out!" I ran ahead of the two, leaving them behind to investigate the mysterious yet hopeful light.

I was both disappointed and pleased. The light was _not_ the exit, as much as I'd hoped it to be. However, the light was something different.

"Wow! I can't believe there's a Crack here!" Liz exclaimed, as the two of them caught up to me.

Kai spun around in question, "Crack? What the heck is that?"

"A 'Crack' is an area in a Mystery Dungeon where the spatial and temporal anomaly is impaled, and the outside world is able to peer in. The Crack is a secondary entrance into the dungeon, though it can never be used as an exit."

"And how is that good?" Kai pressed.

"Look around the room." Was all Liz said.

Kai and I scanned the cave, and the light from the hole in the ceiling of the cave helped to illuminate our surroundings. What we saw was nearly as heavenly as the end-point of the Templar's Sanctuary. Around us, flourishing trees with blue berries growing on them.

"Oran Berries? What the…" I said.

"Cracks, meaning the sun can pierce through the dungeon. Corona Cavern is also known as 'Cave of the Sun', known for that because the soil here is very fertile, and the littlest bit of sunlight piercing through will cause the natural effects of the soil to activate, accelerating berry tree growth. It seems we stumbled onto an Oran Berry grove!" Liz said happily.

"I'm gathering some. We might need some later." Kai rushed to the nearest tree and began climbing it, unloading the blue berries into his bag.

Meanwhile, Liz and I took a rest on some of the nearby non-pointy rocks, which also doubled as chairs. It was a while before I realized something and asked Liz the question.

"Liz… aren't we in danger of having ferals attack us here?"

Kai stopped almost instantly, frozen in surprise and slight shock and fear, but calmed down again after Liz said, "No, don't worry about that. Ferals live naturally within the dungeon's grounds; it's their natural habitats. Though we're still inside Corona Cavern, 'Cracks' are classified as outside of the dungeon's effects, so ferals find Cracks to be the same as outside the dungeon, and won't approach it. We'll be safe for now."

Kai relaxed after hearing the explanation, returning to stocking up on Oran Berries. Liz and I watched as his bag became bigger and bigger, bulkier and bulkier, until he stopped loading them in, clear sign that it was completely filled. He leapt down from the tree, taking the bag with him, stumbling a bit upon landing before going over to us.

"Kai, how are you going to carry that?" I asked.

"Oh, just wait a minute." He fished out from the bag his Rune Dagger, a piece of equipment I had seen before, and carved a rune using the dagger's light onto the bag. The bag instantly shrunk.

"What. The. Heck." I said, emphasizing every word.

"It's a compression glyph. Its purpose is to compress items, so it's usually applied on bags that have too many items. This way, I won't have a problem carrying all these items. Especially since this bag's material reduces strain on the person carrying it."

"Kai, what rank of glyph is that?" Liz asked.

"It's a Rank I glyph. Not very useful in battle, but in this case, it can be pretty helpful." Kai replied.

"Could you guys please let me in on the conversation?"

"We'll do that later," Liz said, "right now, we need to continue going. Staying in any one place in a Mystery Dungeon is dangerous."

Before I could ask for an explanation, Liz left the room, and Kai soon followed. I walked behind them, wondering about all the strange things that they talked about. I seriously did not realize the gate that we had walked through before long, until Kai mentioned it.

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area III**

"Well, we just made it through another gate, and now we're half-way through the dungeon." Kai said nonchalantly.

"What!? How did we just pass through another gate? I didn't even feel a thing!"

"Gates can be both visible and invisible, tangible and intangible. It's part of what adds to the mystery of the place. Hence, _Mystery_ Dungeon." Liz explained.

"You do realize, that that is, the _sixth_ explanation you've given us since the start of this?" I lamented.

"Well, that's because you two don't know _anything_ about our world, since clearly your version of our world is completely wrecked." She said with an annoying 'hmph'.

"Point taken…" Kai agreed, and I could only roll my eyes.

We continued walking in silence for the next ten minutes or so, Kai returned to fiddling with the Battle System whilst Liz…

"Okay… I remember that was some command I could use for this…" Liz was fiddling with a blue glass orb.

"Liz, what are you doing?" I turned my head around to ask.

"Oh. Nothing much really, just fiddling with this orb. Trying to figure something a friend once told me, trying to remember."

"What orb is that?" I asked, Kai remaining uninterested and continued moving screens across the air using his one paw.

"Oh, it's nothing interesting. It's something I only use in an emergency, anyways." She said, putting it away.

The rest of the way was uneventful, and we soon found the gate to the next area.

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area IV**

"We're almost out. We should be okay soon." Liz said.

"Yeah, we've been lucky so far. No powerful ferals and we even found a place where we could gather Oran Berries. Seriously, this dungeon's going way better than the first time," Kai remarked.

"We're not out of the woods yet, though. We should still remain cautious. We don't know when our luck will run out." Liz warned.

"In the meantime, I'm gonna lighten the mood a bit. Liz, care to explain what was that you said back at the Crack?" I asked.

"I thought you hated my explanations… What, you finally admit I'm the one with all the knowledge in this group?" She smirked.

"Alright, fine. I concede, you win."

"Good!" She triumphantly exclaimed, "Now then, you were asking about the part about me asking Kai about the glyph's rank, right?"

I nodded my head.

"Well, glyphs, or runic arrangements, have different classifications depending on their magnitude or usage. The glyph that Kai used on the bag earlier was classified as Rank I, or glyphs that are meant to replicate a simple everyday action, or create an effect to help ease everyday life."

"Yeap." Kai concurred, "Whereas the Defense Glyph I had used back in D.L. 2116 was classified as Rank II, or glyphs that are meant to serve as replication of simple actions or moves in real-time combat."

"So… how many classes are there?" I asked, now intrigued.

"I'm not too sure myself, but…" Kai paused, "I think it reaches Rank X, or Rank Ten. As the rank of the glyph goes up, there are fewer and fewer usable glyphs, with there only being one Rank X glyph in existence."

"What's the glyph?"

"If I remember correctly," Liz said, "The one and only Rank X glyph is known as 'Fraction Split'. Supposedly, it's a spell capable of rewriting the laws and fate of Lyeris, though I can't say I know more about it."

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again. You really know you way around glyphs, Liz." Kai complimented, to which Liz smiled.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again, your explanations are really long and dreary." I said, to which Liz gave an opposite reaction.

We all erupted in laughter at the pure irony of the situation, and in our distraction, we had just traversed one more gate.

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area IV**

"Is anyone getting hungry?" Liz asked.

"Now that you mention it…" Kai paused, his stomach growling, finishing his sentence for him.

"Well, then, why don't we stop for a break and have something to eat?" I suggested.

And so we did, after finding another room to rest in, we plopped ourselves down on the cold rock floor and dug into Kai's bag for those Oran Berries that we had packed back at the 'Crack'. Kai distributed the food equally, three Oran Berries each, which wasn't really a whole lot, since we'd conserved food up to this point and the greedy Riolu had stocked almost forty of those blue berries.

Immediately, we started to chomp into the berries, the sound of chewing and munching and the squishing sound of juices reverberated throughout the cave, almost as if we were having a picnic in the midst of this Mystery Dungeon. We soon gobbled up the remnants of the berries, savoring the sweet juices present in the fruits, and immediately the invigorating effects of the Oran Berries kicked in.

"Ah! I feel like I have enough energy to keep going for the rest of the day!" Kai exclaimed.

"Not that much, but I think I'll be able to reach the end of the cave without collapsing." I sighed, stretching myself and relaxing after a full meal. Kai was closing his bag up and preparing to leave, so were Liz and I, until Liz put her hand over her mouth, which really was just one finger, as if to gesture silence.

"Shh… do you guys hear that?" Liz whispered.

"Hear wha-" I didn't even get to finish before the ground started to rumble slightly, as if foretelling an oncoming earthquake, before the ground began shaking violently and fragments of the cave ceiling began falling to the ground. Then, as if by magic, dozens of feral Pokémon began flooding into the cavern then we were in, surrounding all of us. Each of them were fire-types, and I could just hear Kai mumbling their names off one by one as he scanned all of them with his Battle Interface.

Meanwhile, I could do nothing but freeze in fear at the sudden confrontation. I'd experienced a Monster House before, but that was me walking into a cave filled with ferals, not ferals gathering to attack me when I was in one.

"What the hell?!" I cried.

"Damn it… This is way too unexpected…" Liz cursed.

"Vulpix… Ninetales… Magmar… Growlithe…" Kai mumbled.

"Anyone's got a plan, now's the time to say it!" I said, amidst the low growling of the surrounding ferals.

"Risk! Take out the Luminous Orb and use it! Now!" I heeded Liz's orders and fished out the Luminous Orb from within my bag, but then I faced another issue.

_How do I use it?_

I racked my brain for all the ideas that I had, and I didn't have a lot of time. Whatever Liz's plan was, it involved me using the orb when she commanded, and she was fishing through her bag for something. Whatever she took out, when she took it out, that was how much time I had.

_Come on, Risk! Think… How… Wait. What did Kai say back then?_

"Astentre! Barrier Glyph, Rank 2!" Kai had said.

_That word… it means 'activate', doesn't it?_

"Now, Risk!" Liz commanded, pulling out an orb of her own.

_It's now or never!_

"Luminous Orb! Astentre!" I threw the orb high in the air, only to have pause its movement in mid-air and blink once, before a brilliant and radiant light filled the room, blinding the ferals surrounding us as well as the eyes of Kai and I. In the midst of the chaos, Liz's voice ringed out.

"Gate Orb! Astentre!" Immediately, despite the blinding light, the unmistakable silhouette of the Buneary threw the orb on the ground, and immediately a purplish hole appeared out of nowhere, seemingly to have woven itself into the fabric of the dungeon. Liz ran towards it and disappeared through the purple gate, and Kai and I followed suit, using the blinding light as our cover and ally. As soon as the gate disappeared, the light dulled and we were on the other side.

* * *

-Kai-

**Location: Corona Cavern, Area V  
Date: Serinday, Leneryia-Alhalium 36, D.L. 2021  
Time: 8:36 PM  
Historia: Present**

"Hah… hah…" The three of us stood standing still, catching our breath as we tried to relax from the escape of the near-death situation we just faced.

"What… was… that…?" Risk managed to say in between pants.

"That was… a… 'Gathering'." Liz said, slowly composing herself.

"A Gathering? What's that?" I questioned, now having relaxed and no longer panting.

"It's a nearly-impossible event where feral Pokémon suddenly feel the urge to convene at a certain location, without any planning whatsoever beforehand. It can sometimes be compared to a Monster House. Usually, when this happens, the ferals invade a location where there are Pokémon present in the dungeon. But… this phenomenon is supposed to only occur once in every five thousand dungeon runs all over the world. The odds of it happening here have to be more than just a coincidence."

"We don't really have time to contemplate about anything right now. We're almost out of the dungeon. Liz, since you've been to the exit before, mind leading us out?" Risk asked.

"No problem. The layout until we get to the exit will still be affected by the spatial distortions, but the exit should still be in the same place when we get there, by hook or by crook." Liz said, walking off into one of the branched-out paths that the cave presented. Risk and I followed closely behind, both of us clearly shaken by that experience we just had.

Thankfully, we made it through without _any_ more drama, reaching the marked exit as planned and out of the dungeon, back into sunlight and-

"What. The. HELL!? WHY THE HECK IS IT NIGHTTIME?"

I quickly turned to the ornament on my wrist and pressed it lightly, having the menu of options come up in my vision. I quickly swiped to the clock and it clearly showed in green bold numbers: 9:00 PM.

"How… could… it… be… 9 PM… already…"

"Oh, I forgot to mention." Liz said, as if it was something unimportant, "Mystery Dungeons have a temporal distortion as well, so even if we had entered in the early morning, it most likely would've been nighttime by the time we came out. I had intended for this to happen, you know. I thought you two had been in a Mystery Dungeon before? Haven't you experienced this already?"

Risk opened my mouth to answer, but I was already ahead of him, "Maybe we did, but we didn't notice. The last time we went through a dungeon, only two hours had passed."

"Ah… I see. The temporal distortions of different dungeons warp time differently. Corona Cavern's specific distortion makes time pass approximately 16 times faster than the time outside, so we were in there for around fifty minutes, making approximately 800 minutes pass in real time, so around thirteen hours." Liz explained, which helped me to calm down a little.

"Anyway, we don't have to worry about that right now. It's getting late, and we should be heading to the Zlaize Village inn for a good night's rest. If I'm not wrong, the village should be right over this hill…"

That's when we lay our eyes on pure devastation, one filled with even more dread than the post-apocalyptic world of D.L. 2116. The village was set alight, a blazing burning, razing everything to the ground, corpses of various Pokémon were sprawled across the floor, and many were screaming and running in fear. Rubble was trashed everywhere, and the borders of the village did little to stop the raging fire from spreading. Not too far away, a forest stood as the fire crept slowly, inching its way to set the forest ablaze.

And then, from the fires came the silhouettes of the village's attackers, Pokémon with a fierce look in their eyes and adorned with the symbols of the warriors that I hated. White capes with gold linings fluttered through the air as they stood amidst the chaos, the flames rising into the night air as they hunted down the innocent Pokémon of the village. The Arceains.

"No way… How did they…" Risk muttered, in pure shock and fear.

"Do you know those guys?" Liz asked, her voice quivering in fear.

"Those guys…" Risk paused, "They're Arceains, the Emissaries of Arceus. They must have followed us into the past, through the time stream…" He looked down, his face darkened with a mixture of terror and anger, slowly processing the chaos that was befalling this innocent village.

"We're not going to just stand here, are we?" I said, "Come on! We've got to help!"

Risk, with a dreaded expression still plastered onto his face, rushed for the village without any second words, and Liz and I picked up the pace behind him. Soon, the scenery around us had shifted from a quaint hill surrounded with flowers and fragrant grass in the middle of the dark of night, to one surrounded by blazing red flames that illuminated the night with a vengeance, a violent light that far surpassed that of the moon.

The white knights of Arceus soon spotted us, and immediately dispatched their first wave of warriors to do battle with us. Risk went ahead and knocked down their formations with Quick Attack, leaving Liz and I with an easier target to finish off. I jumped off the hill and high in the air, releasing Vacuum Wave as I swiped my left paw across the air. As the wave of energy struck the wave of Arceains, Liz stopped mid-dash to follow up the attack with a Charge Beam.

The attacks creating a electrified mid-range explosion and separated the Arceains, leaving Risk to take them down one by one by using back-to-back Quick Attacks. As Risk halted his assault, the second wave approached, comprised of electric, ice and fire-types. Risk retreated instantly and I stepped forward to replace him.

"Liz! You won't mind playing support?" I asked, before rushing forward.

She gave me a quick nod and I dashed forward with Agility, switching places with Risk as the front attacker and punching the nearest ice-type, which happened to be a young Cubchoo. As soon as I stepped back and he instantly fainted from the super-effective attack, I instantly felt guilty for the little guy.

_Someone as young as him, joining the ranks of the Arceains? How far has Arceus' influence spread, to be able to reach even across time?_

I jumped back, and met a Beartic with Bullet Punch, and beside me I noticed two Pansears opening their mouths wide. I opened my eyes in fear as I saw the flames build up beside me, and as the stream of flames erupted, I closed my eyes as I focused all my strength of holding the Beartic back, whilst awaiting the painful fires. It never came.

As I opened my eyes, I saw twin Ice Beams holding back and cancelling out the Flamethrowers, and behind me I noticed Liz twirling a wooden staff, with cyan beams of ice energy flying from its tip. I smirked as I focused my attention back on the Beartic, and I pushed back the Beartic with Force Palm, and behind me Risk followed up with Quick Attack, with me finishing the blue bear off with one more Bullet Punch. As the ice-type fell, I turned to the two fire-types.

Risk charged one with Quick Attack, and I charged the other with Agility. Risk momentarily managed to knock the fire-type off his feet and Liz changed the Ice Beam to Charge Beam, paralyzing the fire-type out of commission. I finished the other off with a combo attack, Bullet Punch, Force Palm, and a long-range Vacuum Wave. As I admired my handiwork, I felt a painful jolt of energy hit my right arm, the jolting sparks going through my body and I was knocked to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Liz halting her attacks and running over to me, whilst Risk tried his best to hold them off with Quick Attack.

I couldn't feel my hands, or my legs, or my eyes. I could only lay there on the ground in shock of the paralyzing bolt. Soon, though, I felt a soothing feeling go through my body, slowly, I began to feel my nerves again. My fingers, my hand, and soon my whole arm returned to me. In less than half a minute, I was up and ready to continue fighting, and something amazing was noticed by my eyes.

Risk was no longer tackling opponents in a white flurry. Risk was now holding his ground, blasting any nearby opponents with a beam of yellow energy that emanated from his palm. My eyes widened at the sudden realization. He was using Solar Beam.

_Holy… he learned Solar Beam… that quickly? Wait… how long had he been practicing without me knowing? I'll have to ask him about that later on. But now, let's finish this._

I ran to support Risk, as his facial expression slowly changed from an angered one to a fatigued one. I could understand, since it was his first time using Solar Beam for an extended period of time without being in some sort of 'enhanced rage' mode, it's no surprise he'd tire out this quickly.

"Risk! Lay off the Solar Beam for a while! I'll take over!" I shouted.

He turned and smiled weakly at me, before halting his attack and collapsing on the ground out of fatigue. Liz rushed over to him and dragged him away from the battlefield, and I saw her pointing her staff at his head, a healing light emanating from the tip of her staff, and I could see Risk's tortured expression slowly relax. Meanwhile, I focused back onto the Arceains.

The final wave had come with full force, and this time it was comprised completely of dragon and steel-types. The first one to charge at me was a Fraxure, and he was completely comprised of rage. Slashing at me with white claws, I jumped up and backwards in a somersault to dodge it, and struck him with Vacuum Wave. Landing on the ground, I charged back forward with Agility.

The next challenger approached, a Lairon that seemed far less intimidating than the one we met in Templar's Sanctuary. Taking advantage of the typing, I immediately switch from Agility to Bullet Punch, then pushing the Lairon back with Force Palm, and two more dragon-types took his place. A Gible and a Tyrunt, both struck with a rock-type move, which naturally, I had a resistance to. A fierce sandstorm immediately struck the battlefield, a blowing winds that shaved off the health of all those who did not belong to Rock, Ground or Steel types.

I smirked as the two realized I was part steel-type, and sent them flying with the winds of the storm with Vacuum Wave. Soon, the rest of the final waves charged in a frenzy, and I did my best to fight them off, constantly alternating between Bullet Punch and Force Palm whilst fighting in close combat, and the occasional Vacuum Wave when I was dodging. The enemies blurred into a flurry of steel and dragon-types, with all varieties of attack being blasted my way.

As fatigue overtook me, I smiled as I saw that their numbers were diminishing, and soon one was left. As I finished off a sword-like Pokémon that my Battle Interface identified as Honedge, I breathed heavily, panting as I caught my breath from the first break I had since this battle began. I turned to face the last one. This guy was more powerful than the others, I could tell. He was an evolved Pokémon bearing the white cape of Arceus, a dragon-ground-type Vibrava.

He was capable of taking flight, and that was the first thing he did. Flapping his bug-like wings, a violent gust of wind blew through the battlefield, overtaking the sandstorm as the winds pushed me backwards, threatening to break my grip on the ground below my feet. The Vibrava then changed his attacks, diving downwards as his wings morphed to a metallic form. Steel Wing.

I jumped high up as the flying bug swept the ground from underneath him, as he ascended in a half-roll and began flying in my direction at my height in the air. Whilst aerial, I had no way of maneuvering around and was left a sitting duck as the Vibrava come around once more with a Steel Wing ready to strike. I braced myself for the impact, and Risk came in to save me once more.

A well-timed Solar Beam struck the flying bug, as he was about to hit me, which sent him flying back to the ground as I landed on my feet, safe and sound. Risk ran over to me, appearing fully recovered thanks to Liz's 'Arc of Cresselia', which last I heard, focused on healing techniques. He had barely any cuts at all over his body, and his happy, yet determined demeanor replaced his tired and fatigued one. Liz wasn't doing as well, but she didn't take too much damage, just tired from the loss of energy due to healing.

"Kai! You're hurt. Hold on for a second." Liz pointed her staff at me and the tip began glowing.

"_**O healing light, shine. Lune Aid!**_" A flash of light shined from the tip of her staff and a bright light coated my body, and a soothing feeling ran over my body, closing up the smaller cuts and partially healing the slightly deeper injuries.

"Wow, that does wonders." I remarked, scanning over the closed cuts.

Risk raised his hand and blasted a Solar Beam at the Vibrava that had gotten up from the prior impact, an act that I didn't notice.

"Um, guys, can we leave the thing we're going to talk about later, until after we finish this off?"

"Sure." I turned to face the Vibrava, and Liz followed, "Let's finish this. In five strikes. That's all it'll take." I smirked, and Risk and Liz did the same. We were all thinking the same thing.

As the Vibrava prepared to attack, I charged it with Agility and stopped as I reached it, first disabling its attack preparation with Bullet Punch, then going under it like I was preparing for an uppercut, and executed a well-placed Force Palm from below, sending the flying bug, flying upwards against his will. And as the bug flew into the air, Liz and Risk took the signal. I jumped backwards, and finally, we executed our final attack.

Risk's palm thrust forward, "_**Solar Beam!**_"

Liz's staff rose to the Vibrava, "_**Ice Beam!**_"

And finally, I pulled my left paw backwards across my chest, before stopping mid-dash backwards and swiping my paw across my chest, "_**Vacuum Wave!**_"

The three attacks charged the poor bug, the first attack created an explosion, the second froze the explosion in ice, and the third sliced the block in half, utterly destroying the bug.

_I kinda feel sorry for him… after all, he's bestial. Not 100% feral, automatically doesn't deserve to die, in my book._

"Well, now that that's done, why don't we-"

"Kai! Look out!" Risk shouted.

I turned around and watched as my life flashed before my eyes, blasts of red energy flying in my direction. Then, just as quick as I thought my death was upon me, for the third time today, a shadowed figure went in front of me, and I soon realized whom it was. Risk. His silhouette was the one blocking me, the one ready to stop the attack from killing me and take the brunt of the attack himself.

Then, the battle halted. Literally. The beams of red energy halted in mid-air, and the dust that had ruptured from the ground through the blasts of energy had their particles paused, and the only thing that wasn't frozen was Risk, Liz and I. A bright light of energy was glowing from Risk's palm, a glowing warm yet violent light, and I was sure of it, then and now. Risk had fully frozen time.

"Risk… how… are you doing that?" I asked.

"I don't know… but whatever it is… let's finish this battle now."

Liz and I were nothing but inclined to agree.

* * *

_A trip through a century, through the barriers of time…_

_Arriving in an era, where peace is in its prime._

_And in this age, a new friend is found…_

_And through friendship, a new power resounds._


	6. Chapter 5: Zlaize

**Team Statistics:**

**-Risk:  
Species: Treecko  
Ability: Overgrow  
Level: 17  
Held Item: Mysterious Pendant**

**-Kai:  
Species: Riolu  
Ability: Steadfast  
Level: 19  
Held Item: Battle Interface**

**-Liz:  
Species: Buneary  
Ability: Limber  
Level: 19  
Held Item: Unknown Staff**

* * *

Arc of Legends

Act 1: Essence of Time

Chapter 5: Zlaize

-Kai-

**Location: Zlaize Edge  
Date: Lyraday, Leneryia-Alhalium 37, D.L. 2021  
Time: 9:31 AM  
Historia: Present**

I sat quietly at the edge of the cliff, enjoying the cooling breeze rush past my fur, as the aftermath of the battle had slowly quieted down. It hadn't completely returned to normal, but all the problems that we had faced were slowly being fixed. The town had set up a tent for the wounded, where the priests of the village, accompanied by Liz, were busy healing those that had fought against the white capes. Meanwhile, the construction workers, or so they called themselves, were busy repairing what damages to buildings there were. Most of the buildings were built of simple materials such as wood and with a nearby forest to use as resources the repairs were well underway.

I wasn't assigned any jobs, and I doubt my abilities could help much in fixing, since I had studied survival and combat all this while, but I tried to do what I can. Or at least, I did. There were many children in the village, so whilst the adults were busy with the repairs and healing, they requested that Risk and I take care of the young ones. Obviously, I had no experience with kids, so Risk offered to take over. I had no idea where he was now, most likely entertaining them, but the last I saw of him he was running off into the nearby woods with a trail of kids behind him.

I looked down and saw the sight that was our next destination after Zlaize Village. We would have to travel through the likes of Karin Forest, rumored to be a place where one could gather many herbal ingredients to be used in alchemy and herbalism. Of course, the forest was a special case. It was recently split into two halves, one part was known as Karin Forest- X, which represented the safe areas of the forest, but then there was Karin Forest- Y, which represented the Mystery Dungeon. The half that was closest to us was X, so I assumed that was where Risk was.

I put two paws on the soft grass I was sitting on, and got off the ground, heading back to the village. In the midst of the repair work, I had a lot of time to myself, since Liz and Risk were both busy, so I spent the time looking at the geography. Zlaize Village was situated at the top of a rather large cliff, with a gentle falling slope that acted as a path to the forest below. There were many edges of the cliff, but one particular spot jutted out from the rest of the geographical points, so it was named Zlaize Edge; that was where I was not too long ago.

I hadn't had time to discuss plans with Liz and Risk, and I wasn't rushing it. As I returned inside the boundaries of Zlaize Village, the first thing I heard was the pounding of hammers and nails, the sounds of repair work and reconstruction. I hadn't walked too far back inside the village before I passed the cloth tent that had been erected to serve as a base for the healing. Inside, many wounded fighters suffering from all kinds of injuries. Some had even been poisoned during the fight, and they were being taken care of by various medicinal concoctions that definitely had to include Pecha berries.

I saw Liz and many other healers rushing around, taking care of the most fatal injuries first, before moving down the scale and taking care of the rest. I could see Liz's exhaustion, which I could sympathize with, since she'd been doing this for the past four hours or so and expending that much energy would make anyone tired. The healers had to take different shifts, in order to cover all the wounded. And sometimes the healing didn't work and the illnesses returned or injuries reopened, which required repeated healing.

Liz spotted me as I walked by, quickly giving me a wave, which I returned, before she continued on with her job, silver and golden light emitting from her staff and palms. I smiled at the thought of hundreds of lives being saved and soothed by that same light that had healed me back then. I held my palm close to my face, momentarily bringing back the memory of what had transpired here the night before.

**Date: Serinday, Leneryia-Alhalium 36, D.L. 2021  
Time: 8:37 PM**

I watched in both horror and amazement as the five simultaneous blasts of red-white energy that had been emitted by our last remaining enemy did absolutely nothing but hang there in mid-air, the little pebbles and specks of dust that had been kicked up during the momentum of the battle froze in mid-air, and all the screaming and panicking citizens of Zlaize Village instantly paused, a deafening silence surrounding my ears.

Not a sound, not even the faint thud of a single footstep could be heard, as the cries of the villagers seemed to have paused. Then, a single sound broke the silence; it was the bang of Liz's staff behind us. I spun my head around to look at Liz's amazed face, her mouth was gaping wide as she stood there in awe of the sudden frozen time, as the faint light emanating from Risk's palms seemed to be the cause of all this.

"Risk… how are you… doing that?" I asked.

"I don't know… but whatever it is… let's finish this battle now."

Liz and I nodded our heads as Risk turned his focus to the beams of white-red energy. He closed his eyes, and the glow of light from his palms intensified into an all out shining burst, forcing my paws to instinctively cover my eyes from the blinding light, and as it died down, I heard voices again. The familiar screaming of the panicking citizens, the clopping of the tiny pebbles in the air returning to the ground, and the feeling of time returning.

I opened my eyes, only to see the energy of the Hyper Beam that had been unleashed upon us vanish into thin air, the glowing light guiding the dispersing energy back into the surroundings, as a look of pure fright and confusion invaded our enemy's face. Now that I had time, I reached for the bracelet on my wrist, the green reticle quickly identifying our opponent. From my sight, I saw it as a kangaroo-like Pokémon, with red claws and a mushroom-like cap on its head, clearly showing its grass-typing. Soon, the scan completed.

**Breloom, Mushroom Pokémon**

**It is able to stretch its arms when it throws punches, and scatters poisonous spores to disable its opponents so it can fight in close combat without any retaliation.**

**Current Enemy Status:  
Level: 23  
Held Item: None**

"Guys! It's a Breloom! Watch out, this guy's a speedy fighter!"

"So what's the plan, O great and wise one?" Risk readied Solar Beams in his left palm as he jumped back to join Liz and I by our sides.

I pondered the question for about five seconds, knowing full well that the opponent would _not_ wait for us to retaliate. I looked up from my thoughts as the Breloom charged with a glowing red fist, my interface recognizing it as Focus Punch.

I smirked, "Risk, first off, fire your Solar Beams, distract the opponent."

"With pleasure!" Risk took a jump-slash-step backwards and adopted a battle stance, thrusting both his palms forward, letting loose the twin beams of yellow energy. The beams struck the grass-type, cancelling the execution of Focus Punch.

"Next, Kai?" Risk said with anxiety present in his voice, as the Breloom recovered from the impact.

"Wait… hold your ground." I stepped forward as the Breloom shook its head left to right violently, before focusing back on me. Its claw-like fist glowed white this time, as it charged once more, with pure anger in its eyes.

I took a battle stance, using the reticle in my interface to watch my opponent closely, identifying its attack as Mach Punch, as it continued charging forward. I smirked.

I crossed my arms across my face, closing my eyes and felt the tingling feeling of aura and energy mixing, swirling inside my body, and a violent updraft of energy surrounded me, a wind-like current that circled from my body, to the ground, to the air, and into my palms and arms. I flashed my eyes open in a quick instant, and took a step forward, releasing Vacuum Wave, swiping my arms outward to create a wave of energy.

The Breloom dodged upwards, keeping the momentum of his attack, which was exactly what I wanted.

_Now!_

I averted my eyes from the diving opponent, releasing Bullet Punch into the ground to crumble it, before jumping backwards, just in time to dodge the Breloom's Mach Punch, which had struck the earth with great force, creating a crack that spread outwards in all directions in the rocky ground. As the crack reached me, I put one foot on the ground to stop my momentum, quickly thrusting both palms onto the cracked ground, unleashing a blast of energy I knew as Force Palm.

The force of the attack sent the cracked ground flying upwards, tens of large stones flying into the air creating an aerial debris that separated us from our target, serving to block the opponent's view and a preparation for the second part of the strategy that I managed to come up with.

"Liz, Risk, scatter!" I said as I jumped back to meet them.

They nodded and dashed both left and right, taking cover in the flurry of rocks. Just as soon as they did that, the Breloom charged at me with Mach Punch again, punching through the cloud of rubble and shattering the stones left and right. He burst out of the cloud, and at the moment, I had a Vacuum Wave to meet him right in the face. Jumping upwards to evade my attack, this time I was prepared for him even more. Reaching for the nearest piece of rock, I used Force Palm, shattering the rock and directing the miniature stones upwards, pelting the Breloom and obscuring his vision, breaking his momentum.

As he landed on the ground, I took advantage of his momentary confusion and unleashed a Bullet Punch at the Breloom's stomach, causing him to double over in pain, and followed up the assault with Force Palm, sending him crashing into a pile of rocks. As the cloud of aerial debris settled back to the ground, I feigned my triumph over my fallen opponent, which seemed to irk it even more.

Growling in anger, it managed to stand back up, and this time was prepared to unleash all of his remaining energy in the form of a move that I was familiar with. A yellow blast of energy: Solar Beam. As the energy blast was fired from his hands, right on cue a blast of a darker yellow hue made of electricity intercepted it from the left.

Using the Breloom's temporary shock and exhaustion, the three of us unleashed our finishing combo. I charged the Breloom with Agility, followed by Bullet Punch, launching him aerial with Force Palm, and dealing my final hit with Vacuum Wave. Following up, blasts of lightning and ice pelted it from my right, where Liz was twirling her staff expertly, interchanging between the two devastating beams. As Liz finished her assault, the Breloom began to fall from the sky. Right on cue, Risk jumped from the roof of a nearby, unscathed house, and finished up the three-prong combo with a double Solar Beam, which twisted into a yellow helix that accelerated the Breloom's descent, finishing it off with a brilliant explosion of light.

* * *

-Risk-

**Location: Zlaize Village  
Date: Lyraday, Leneryia-Alhalium 37, D.L. 2021  
Time: 9:58 AM  
Historia: Present**

I slumped on the chair and heaved a long sigh of relief, twisting my head around to relieve my aching neck of its pain as I took a break beside the window of the nursery's office, resting after a long and tiring morning of excitement. The children of Zlaize Village were nothing short of hyperactive in the day, and I had been 'entertaining' them for about four hours now, since an hour before dawn. Luckily for me, in exchange for their hyperactivity, they tired rather quickly and before long, gave me some time to rest and relax.

I placed my arms on the table, placing my head on them as I closed my eyes, hoping to catch up on five hours of lost sleep.

**Historia: Dreams**

I awoke, to the sound of a soft whispering voice.

In the infinite darkness that spread out before me, a single spark, a single light. The voice from before, all but naught, a deafening silence taking its place. Waves of darkness constantly rippled across the scenery, doing little to change what I was already looking at. Then, the light grew brighter. Much brighter, slowly, then bursting, engulfing the darkness in light. Opening my eyes, the scene was similar, yet the roles had been reversed.

A wide expanse of light spread out, in place of the darkness from before. In its light, a single spark, a single dark star. Rays of light flashed across the scene, arrows of light streaked past the space. Then, the darkness grew. First enlarging, then spreading outwards in all directions in the shape of black tendrils that pierced the light, covering it like a coveted jewel, which soon transformed into a wave of darkness, manifested in a wind of despair and suffering. Screams and howls of pain reverberated throughout the light-engulfing darkness.

Then, the scene shifted.

Opening my eyes once more, the light of the sun pierced my eyes, causing them to recoil in sudden discomfort. The happy chirp of birds, the indistinct sound of rustling grass and leaves overlapped with each other, creating an array of calming noises. I felt a tickling feeling behind my back, coupled with the damp and wet feeling of dewdrops soaking into my clothes. In the sun's shining light, the blue sky spread infinitely wide, white puffy clouds dotting the sky. Wind blew across my face, a cooling morning breeze. Then, a face.

The face of a girl, with eyes of cerulean blue and blonde hair, a pale complexion and an overbearing smile. A face, familiar, yet unfamiliar, as if a memory from a distant past.

"Wake up! You've been asleep for eight hours." The girl said.

"Eight is barely enough…" I heard myself groaning.

I found myself unable to control my own actions, my own voice, as if I were reliving a scene from the past, one that I was unable to change, unable to interfere in. So I watched, without resisting. The boy stood up, with eyes of crimson with hair of the same shade as the girl, with an equally light complexion. Looking at the two figures, I realized something that I hadn't until now, even though it was staring at me right in the face.

These two… were _human_. How was that possible? Pokémon populated the land of Lyeris, humans were nowhere to be found, and yet here, in the midst of bright sunlight and the calming trees, were two _humans_. Where could this have taken place, and how could I not remember something like this ever happening?

I continued to watch.

"Honestly, you're always dozing off." The girl complained.

"You were too, so there! You've got no right to be berating me." The boy retorted, while picking up what looked to be a picnic basket.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going. Mom's going to be angry." The girl said.

"Guess you're right. We'd better get going."

The boy and the girl then ran off, and the scene blacked out, before resurfacing with the two again. This time, the duo was back at a house. The boy turned the knob on the front door, pushed it open and held the door whilst the girl went in. The boy soon followed, a slight smile on his face as he closed the door. I felt myself attain a spectral form, and somehow I followed the two through the door, without the need to open it.

Whilst the house was nothing impressive, the interior of the house was very homely. The corridor that was behind the door diverged into three different paths, the left one lead to the kitchen, where the girl was busying herself with a knife, slicing fruits and vegetables as she heated up a pot of water. The right one lead to the living room, where a archaic wooden rocking chair was stagnant and still, just beside it was a sofa that stretched along the width of the quaint room. Opposite of the sofa and rocking chair was a fireplace with a lit flame, emanating comforting warmth throughout the room.

Finally, the last path led to a staircase that went to the upper floor of the two-floor house, where the path diverged into a horizontal corridor, spreading left and right of the staircase. To the left were two rooms, one marked 'Sis' and another marked 'Mom'. To the right were two more rooms, one marked 'Storage' and one marked 'Bro'. On the ceiling to the right was a trapdoor, with a staircase leading up into the attic. Climbing up, I saw that there was a dim light in the attic, flickering once every now and then, which meant it was most likely a small flame.

Walking through the pile of old objects, I found who was there beyond the mountain of books and toys. It was the boy from earlier, looking through several dusty piles of random old things. He searched slowly, with no sense of urgency, a lamp beside him giving him the much-required light. In the darkness, he dug through piles, flinging books and sheets of cloth and a rather strange assortment of things that was clearly not what he was looking for. Then, his haphazard searching came to and end. In his hands he held a very peculiar book, sealed by a leather strap with an emerald-colored crest and archaic symbols on its cover.

"Finally." He said with a smile, "I finally found it."

He touched the emerald with his forefinger, then his middle finger, before turning it 180 degrees clockwise. The gem glowed dimly for a second before the glow vanished, and the sound of the book unlocking like a door could be heard. The gem continued turning clockwise another 180 degrees, and the leather strap recoiled from its grip over the book like vines from a tree, and the book was open.

The boy flipped the book open, the couple hundred pages flipping until it opened to a random page. There, a bookmark marked the page, but just like the cover, the pages were written in an archaic and ancient language of symbols that I couldn't understand.

"Mystery Dungeon." The boy said.

I cocked my ear, hearing something peculiar.

"Mystery Dungeon." The boy repeated.

A sense of shock jolted me. How could he have known about Mystery Dungeons, a phenomenon most likely only occurring in the world of Pokémon? The idea of him being in the Pokémon world was long debunked by the fact that no humans had been seen in the Pokémon world for a long time, since that post-apocalyptic future was possible.

_If he's in the human world, how could he know about Mystery Dungeons?_

"A phenomenon only occurring in the reverse side of Earth, the Pokémon world known as Lyeris." He said.

His words jolted me back to the present, shocking me once again. He knew about Lyeris. No humans should be able to know this much… Or, that's what I thought.

"So… is it possible to travel between the folds? Rip clean through the granite barriers of time and space. Zip past the dimensional resistance, the force that prevents inter-dimensional travel. Is it possible?"

He began mumbling words I couldn't hear, but most of what I could was scientific and theoretical at best. He kept saying 'is it possible' and 'what if' throughout his conversation to himself. Then, he rose from his crouching position. With the book in his hands, he turned the page to another chapter. As he walked out of the room, I caught a glimpse of the chapter that he was about to read.

Before I had time to process what I just saw, he read out what was in the book.

"Lyeris… a world of Pokémon. Where fighting is commonplace and Mystery Dungeons pockmark the landscape." He said softly.

Then, he added in words of his own, "To be reborn there, would be a dream come true. Rebirth… does it have to come with death?"

Then, the scene swirled and blacked out.

* * *

-Arceus-

**Location: Hall of Origin  
Date: ?  
Time: ?  
Historia: Present**

"Lord Arceus." I heard a voice call from behind.

I turned around to see my trusted advisor, Logia, a Dragonair, standing at the doorway. She was wearing an intricately crafted silver tiara, a final gift from her mother, and a carefully crafted sapphire pendant around her neck, a gift from her father, so she said.

"What needs my attention, Logia? You should know I am quite busy." I replied.

"Lord Arceus, the Unlimited have returned from their missions. I assumed you would have wanted to greet them, considering that you usually call for a debriefing after each mission."

"Indeed. Impressive instincts as always, Logia. Gather them in the Grand Hall, I will see to them after I am finished here."

"You flatter me, Lord Arceus. I will abide by your instructions." She bowed her head, before slithering out of the room and using her tail to close the doors gently as she did.

I returned to the Oculus. Peering through the circular piece of glass allowed me, to survey the whole world, at different times and different dimensions at once, giving me easy access to any point in time and space. In their respective realms, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina lay dormant within the Temporal Tower, the Spatial Palace and the Distorted World. The three separate realms signified by three different colored spheres that circled in orbit around a slightly larger sphere.

Earth. Or its flipside, Lyeris. It was the realm of humans and Pokémon, a mediating plane, where most species could learn to coexist and find life. Both worlds were represented by the same sphere, split into half by a dimensional barrier that prevented each world from interfering with each other. It was a wall of pure energy that was meant to be unbreakable, but since the dawn of time there were a total of three different times when it was shattered.

The first, a time of chaos when darkness enveloped the land of Lyeris, Pokémon cries and screams resounded throughout the land as a deadly virus infected the Pokémon like a spreading forest fire, crystallizing their bodies only for the red crystals to be shattered and returned to the air like energy. Dialga and Palkia foresaw the chaos, and shattered the boundaries at one small point. Small though the whole was, it was enough to get a number of 3000 Pokémon through to the other side. That was the first appearance of Pokémon on Earth, and the first appearance of humans on Lyeris, and thus was the event named 'Dawn of Light'.

The second time, an evil corruptive power than invaded time and space, taking over the minds of Dialga, Palkia and the Prince of Nightmares, Darkrai. Using Darkrai as its servant and physical form, it began to spread corruption throughout Lyeris. The rumored Time Gears that were said to be Dialga's connection the world were shattered, as Dialga underwent Primal Reversion. The world became frozen, and very few survivors were left. Seeking the help of Celebi, a human and a Grovyle returned to a point before the Time Gears were destroyed.

They gathered the Time Gears, placing them atop Temporal Tower and driving the corruption out of Dialga's mind, restoring the future. Afterwards, the returned Palkia to his original state, and sent the darkness away from Lyeris by defeating Darkrai. The heroes then lay to rest, hoping that they had saved the world, but not for long. The barrier broke once more, this time not by the hands of the legends, but by an unknown force. This portal absorbed all humans from Lyeris, leaving the Pokémon to learn how to survive on their own. Following the closure of the portal, a massive amount of temporal and spatial energy was released into the world, this brought about the rebirth of Mystery Dungeons, an irreparable anomaly.

The third time, a darkness borne out of cold frost and ice, a strange entity known as the Bittercold. Being naturally attuned to ice, the legend Kyurem, Shell of Truth and Ideals, found the strange entity. The darkness enticed Kyurem, and soon his mind was lost to the creature. Over time, various Pokémon who hated the world and cursed their lives joined Kyurem and the Bittercold in their efforts to destroy the world, to make it reborn anew.

And thus was the barrier broken once more, this time the work of an entity borne from my very own Jewel of Life, dubbed the Voice of Life, who took the form of a Hydreigon, a well-respected dragon-type Pokémon. Using her powers, she called many humans from Earth, allowing them to land on various parts of the world. All were defeated, save one, who took the form of an Oshawott. His home, dubbed 'Paradise', housed him and his brave comrades, who took it upon themselves to raid the Glacier Palace and shatter the Bittercold. As the chapter came to a close, the legendary Rainbows of Hope once again painted the sky.

With the Bittercold shattered and chaos averted, the heroes settled and lived the rest of their lives in the home called Paradise, which was taken over by the sons of their sons, and to date are still one of the most legendary exploration teams. As the third portal came to a close, it sent a message from the entity only heard in myths: The First Light, or as I know it, Aether.

The message read:

_Soon, your heart will be corrupted by darkness.  
Hark; O creator of the world, for you shall soon be against that which you created.  
Beware._

As far as I knew, Aether was the one who had created me, a light from a light, and it was the one who carved the universe from the chaotic miasma. Its words were absolute, never wrong. And so, heeding its warning, I took the risk of tearing apart the dimensional walls and a crack appeared in the sky. And yet, I feared it did not have the desired effect. The crack closed just as soon as it opened, and no one, neither human nor Pokémon came through it.

Recently, I had heard rumors of a certain Pokémon possessing the Arc of Dialga that could just be our savior, and now I was searching for them relentlessly.

A knock came on the door.

"Lord Arceus, the Unlimited have gathered." Logia's voice resounded through the doors.

I turned, and walked through the opening doors, levitating to the semi-circular balcony-like perch, which had two curved staircase on either sides of the place, leading downwards. I looked down over the ledge, where the Unlimited were kneeling.

"Well, then. Welcome back, all of you. Now, who will be first to tell me what they found?"

* * *

-Liz-

**Location: Zlaize Village  
Date: Lyraday, Leneryia-Alhalium 37, D.L. 2021  
Time: 11:31 AM  
Historia: Present**

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Chief." I said.

"Please, Lisianthus. Dispense with the formalities. Are we not friends?" Etrin said.

"Not so loud, Sol. I don't want anyone to know." I whispered, placing a finger over my mouth as a gesture.

In front of me, sat an elderly Alakazam, with eyes of a grey hue, almost as if reflecting his old age and wisdom. As far as I could remember, Etrin was already more than 100 years old, living past the normal human lifespan, but he still had quite a ways to go before hitting the Pokémon lifespan limit. I had first met him only about five years ago, when I first began using my art of healing and settled in the hill beyond Corona Cavern. I had resided in Zlaize Village for a time before departing beyond the mountain, and during that time, Etrin had become one of my few friends.

"So, back to the main topic." Etrin said, whilst fiddling with a pot of tea, "You were asking about time."

"Yes." I paused, "The two companions I am travelling with claim to be from a distant future, one where Lyeris has been returned to the rubble from whence it came, and the post-apocalyptic world has been split into sectors in order to differentiate between each area."

"What I want to know, if time travel is possible. Whilst I have no qualms believing their story, I'd just like to get some final confirmation."

"Hmm…" He pondered the question, before raising his hand and a blue glow in the shape of a membrane covered it, as a book from a nearby shelf floated towards him. The book dropped in his lap, and he used his free hand to flip it open, perusing the pages.

"Theoretically," He began, "using the power of the Arc of Dialga, it would be possible to create a direct path through the granite barrier of time, allowing for time travel to take place."

Before I could react, he held up one finger, which signaled that he was not done with his explanation.

"However, in order for the Arc of Dialga to be usable in time travel, one of two conditions must be achieved. First, the user must possess an immense amount of power, and be able to project a massive amount of energy all at once into a single point in time and space, in order to rip through the dimensional folds."

He paused, before continuing, "Second, a rare occurrence, known as an Alignment, features a special point in time and space where the energy has spread out thinly enough to be ripped open easily. This often occurs during a lunar or solar eclipse, when the light of the eclipse shines down on a particular point. This point of Alignment changes every two eclipses, one solar and one lunar, which spans an entire year."

"So," I began, "what are the chances of randomly stumbling across one?"

"Almost virtually zero. In order to be able to make use of the Alignment, one must be at the exact spot in the exact point in time. The chances of that happening coincidentally would most like be one in a quadrillion chances. Virtually zero. But, still possible. Unlikely, but possible."

"Hmm… I see."

"Was there anything else you'd like to ask, Lisianthus?" Etrin asked, "You know I'm always ready to help."

"In fact, now that you mention it…" He cocked his head nearer to listen, "How long has it been since you last visited Beryllium Village?"

"Beryllium? Why do you ask of the village beyond the forest?"

"I am 'escorting' my companions to the edge of the Pierce Region, Kiora, the council's headquarters. If we were to travel on foot, we would reach there in about a week or so, but seeing as how they seem urgent, I've been contemplating on various different ways to get there faster… so…"

"You'd like me to charter a boat from Beryllium. Is that correct?"

I blushed, knowing that in his old age, even traversing Karin Forest would be difficult, before nodding my head.

"Well, I don't suppose that would be too difficult. Please, you need not feel embarrassed or sorry. It's been a while since I last visited Beryllium, but I still have some old friends with some influence in the fishing village. However, take note."

I made a questioning sound, after which he continued, "The boat can only take you as far as Larena Town. It is the closest port town to Kiora, but it is still quite a ways away. It will take you beyond the Larena Straits, which will shorten your journey by about five days, but I'm afraid that's all the boat will do. From there on, you will have to continue on foot."

"I understand. Thanks, Etrin."

"No problem. It's nice to do a favor. However, I suggest that we leave tomorrow. You've spent the whole morning expending your energy; you need to get some rest, take the whole day to recuperate. The townspeople need healing, but you need to take care of yourself as well. We shall leave tomorrow. Before then, gather your teammates and prepare your supplies, and make sure to get plenty of rest."

"Alright, Etrin, I got it. I'll meet you at the edge of Karin Forest when we're ready. Tomorrow morning, right?"

He nodded his head, and I took my leave, exiting the house.

The sun greeted me along with a gust of fresh air. Now being the eleventh month of the year, it was just the start of the autumn season for the Pierce Region, and the autumn region was gifted with a cooling breeze all day for the next three months, along with trees carrying leaves sporting a wide myriad of colors, red and orange among them. It was especially calming to know that the abundance of injured and sick had been eliminated, which meant I was no longer required to continue working at the clinic, with the normal healers able to take care of the remainder.

_What a relaxing day… hard to find it calming when you have so much work on hand… By the way, where are those two? Haven't seen them since morning…_

"Liz!"

_Speak of the devil…_

"Hey, Kai." I turned and saw the familiar Riolu run up to me.

"So, the clinic finally let you go, huh?"

"Yeah…" I sighed, having no qualms about showing my exhaustion, "Finally, the number of injured reduced to a manageable level."

"So, I assume you have plans for our travel? You had to be discussing something important with the chief."

"Perceptive." I remarked, "Yes, I do. If all goes well, we should be leaving Zlaize by dawn, tomorrow. I suggest we spend the rest of our time here recuperating."

"Well, while you're ready to relax, I've still got a couple of things to do."

"Oh?" I said with a curious voice, "Running errands?"

"Yep. The village is short on Oran Berries, and I heard from the workers that there's a spot in Karin Forest with an Oran Berry tree that grows in abundance of said berries all year round. I'm gonna go pick some. Would you like to join me?"

"Me?"

"It's alright if you're too tired. I was just wanting some company anyway."

"No, it's alright. As long as I stay off fighting too seriously, I should be fine. I'll come with you."

"Well, then, let's go." Kai said.

As we walked down the cliff that held Zlaize Village suspended several meters from ground level, Kai asked, "So, Karin Forest is how wide?"

"I'm not really sure myself. Sure, I've travelled through it once or twice, but not enough to be able to tell the distance. Especially since half of it is now a Mystery Dungeon. A rough estimate of the first half that's still normal would be about a mile wide at worst."

"One mile, huh… That's not that bad. We should be able to get back before sundown, right?"

"We should," I said, "not counting the time distortion around the Mystery Dungeon. I haven't been able to determine the degree of temporal distortion in Karin Forest, so I wouldn't know."

"Oh, yeah… Corona Cavern's distortion speeds up time 16 times, right?"

"Right. So, if Karin Forest were to speed up time any more than 20 times, we probably wouldn't make it back before sundown. That's also not counting the possible time deceleration in Karin Forest."

His walking screeched to a halt in surprise, right in the middle of the path that cut through Karin Forest, "Deceleration? What do you mean?"

"Continue walking, and I'll explain."

So we did, and I proceeded to dump my knowledge on him.

"The temporal distortion surrounding Mystery Dungeons creates a separate plane of existence when combined with the spatial distortion. This, in turn, creates a time difference between the Mystery Dungeon and the outside world." I paused to let that sink in.

"Due to this, each Mystery Dungeon has its unique sort of 'time code', which determines the degree and type of difference it creates. This time code can vary the amount of time that it distorts, and also the way it distorts time. It can speed up time, or slow it down. In fact, there was once a Mystery Dungeon I explored in a far off region whilst journeying. It slowed down time 20 times, which meant each minute I spent in there, was only three seconds in the real world. Spending an hour inside would only cause three minutes to pass. A day, one hour and twelve minutes."

"Wow… How do all these distortions occur?" He questioned.

"No one knows. No one really knows how it happens. We just study what happens as a result and try to adapt to it."

"Huh…" He put his paw on his chin, as if deep in thought, before his eye twitched, as if noticing something.

"Liz, we're here." His eyes turned ghostly white.

I looked down on the ground, and saw that he was right. Just like the entrance of Corona Cavern, a distinct runic arrangement was carved into the ground, which spread left and right to cover the width of the Mystery Dungeon observable from the outside world.

"Well, then, ladies first?"

* * *

-Kai-

**Location: Karin Forest-Y, Area I  
Date: Lyraday, Leneryia-Alhalium 37, D.L. 2021  
Time: 12:12 PM  
Historia: Present**

Upon entering the forest, the first thing I did was take in a huge breath. Immediately, fresh air accompanied by the scent of leaves and grass invaded my lungs, and I felt grateful for the change in the scenery. Almost all of our adventures so far had taken place underground. Templar's Sanctuary took place in the post-apocalyptic world of D.L. 2116, and Corona Cavern was a Mystery Dungeon through a mountain, technically underground. This was the first dungeon that didn't involve some sort of big rock.

Walking through the forest elicited the shuffling sounds of feet against grass, and the cliché chirping of bird Pokémon could be heard as we traversed the forest. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting the shadows of the tall trees on us and the ground beneath us, and the surroundings was damp and moist, almost as if a storm had just passed. For all I knew, it could've been just the dimensional distortions of the dungeon, which left the forest in this state perpetually.

"It feels like paradise…" I muttered.

"Paradise? Wow, you must have experience a whole lot worse back in D.L. 2116 than I originally imagined for you to appreciate this forest as paradise. Sure, it's nice, but I've seen much nicer Mystery Dungeons. Like Oran Forest or Cyan Woods. A lot better." Liz said.

"What type of ferals lives in these woods?" I asked, as we continued walking.

"Mostly grass and bug-types, but there's the occasional water and rock-types, though they're much rarer. So we shouldn't have much problem, judging purely by typing."

"Liz. Stop." I shoved my left paw in front of her, to tell her to stop talking and stop moving. My ears twitched slightly, picking up rustling sounds from the surroundings. After a tense three seconds, a brown figure dashed at us from the left, grazing my fur as I pushed Liz back, jumping backwards myself. The brown figure disappeared back into the foliage, but the same rustling sounds were elicited from the surrounding shrubbery, which meant he wasn't gone yet.

After a couple more seconds, the brown figure returned with another Headbutt.

"Scatter!" I shouted, and Liz jumped to the right whilst I headed in the other direction, the brown figure striking the ground as the two of us evaded its attacks. Immediately upon landing on the ground, I fired up the Battle Interface, fuzzy green windows appearing in my sight and the reticle doing its job.

**Shroomish, Mushroom Pokémon.**

**It lives in damp places, releasing toxic spores from the top of its head when threatened. These spores cause intense pain if inhaled.**

I looked back at the Shroomish, past the Battle Interface, and noticed it rear its head back, as if preparing another attack. Then, the grass-type opened its mouth, firing a glob of brown sludge at me. I used Agility, dashing off towards the right as I prepared an attack in my palms. The glob of sludge struck a nearby tree, causing it to collapse and kick up a cloud of dust surrounding me, preventing any of us from seeing anything.

The Shroomish, clearly used to dust and poisons, jumped high into the sky, using the fallen tree to give it some extra altitude, but as it prepared another Sludge Bomb, my right foot touched the ground and I swung my hands outwards, releasing Vacuum Wave into the sky as my feet held tight to the ground to resist the recoil. The attack struck the Shroomish's Sludge Bomb just as it was released, creating a medium-sized bang in the air, sending the Shroomish back to the ground.

"Now, Liz!"

A beam of ice fired through the cloud of dust, blasting the Shroomish back into a tree, as the Ice Beam froze the grass-type in place, covering it and the tree behind it in a shell of ice.

"Well, that was fun." Liz said, whilst waving her staff left and right in an effort to brush away the dust cloud.

"Yeah, but we've still got a little while to go. C'mon, I really want to get back before sundown."

We continued walking through the forest until a tingling feeling went through my fur.

**Location: Karin Forest-Y, Area II**

"By the way," I began.

"Hmm? Is there something you'd like to ask?" Liz queried.

"That staff of yours," I pointed to her staff, "what is it? Most Pokémon don't walk around carrying a humanlike weapon."

"Oh, this? It's actually a pretty old story. When I was around 14 years old, I had just started my journey in a far-off region. After travelling from one end of the region to another, I was paid a visit by a cloaked figure. He was carrying this same staff. He told me that he had been looking for me, and that he wanted to hand me the staff. Before I could ask why, he had vanished." She paused.

"Afterwards, I did some research and found that the staff contains some sort of sealed ability, though throughout all these years I have yet to find out what that is, I keep it around as an extension of my fighting style."

"Huh. That's a cool story. Most Pokémon don't use weapons, so it was interesting to learn how you got yours."

"Speaking of which, are you an Arc of Legend?" Liz asked.

The question stung me. I wouldn't know whether to answer yes or ignore the question completely. The reasons for that…

_No. I can't say, not yet._

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me or talk about it. Whatever the reason." Liz replied, sensing my anxiety and flashed a warm smile.

"Thanks." I smiled back.

**Location: Karin Forest-Y, Area IV**

"Liz!" I shouted, as I pointed at our foe whilst dodging its attack.

"Gotcha!" She replied, dashing past me and jumping into the air.

Twirling her staff mid-air, Liz fired a cold, icy blast at the Bellsprout, creating a miniature ice stalagmite in its place, after which I followed up the attack with a Force Palm, shattering the ice and sending the Bellsprout flying backwards, fainted and unable to continue.

"Of all times to encounter a Monster House…" Liz muttered.

We stood back to back as numerous feral Pokémon surrounded us, comprised of the aforementioned grass and bug-types, with a couple of water types mixed in.

Then, the second attacker charged. It was a Ledyba, a ladybug Pokémon armed with six… arms. The bug-type charged with Mach Punch, and using my right arm I blocked its rush, returning it back with Force Palm. Behind me, Liz was dealing with a rock-type, the rarest type found in Karin Forest. It was a Geodude, and Liz was battling it one on one, Ice Beam against Rollout, seeing which one would give out first.

"Liz! Switch!"

At that moment, I was so glad 95 years into the past; standard team battle commands were still widely known in Lyeris. Liz halted her attack, allowing the Geodude to continue with its Rollout attack towards us, albeit already rather damaged. I finished it off with Bullet Punch, a super effective move that rendered him unable to fight. Behind me, Liz was dealing with a Staryu's Water Gun with Charge Beam, and without hesitation I charged past Liz, striking the Staryu with Bullet Punch, momentarily fazing it, allowing Charge Beam to knock it out.

Dodging a Razor Leaf from a Nuzleaf, I somersaulted into the air, Liz's Ice Beam firing past me to knock out the grass-type. I landed with my feet on the ground, just in time to defend Liz from a Tangela's Vine Whip, blocking it at first before grabbing the vines, pulling the Pokémon in for a Force Palm.

"Kai, we're not getting anywhere." Liz said, firing another Ice Beam.

"Oh, I don't know, their numbers do seem to be lessening slightly." I said, rushing a nearby Psyduck with Bullet Punch, enduring the Water Pulse attack it fired at me.

Using Agility, I dodged the Mach Punch from another Ledyba, attacking it with Bullet Punch before jumping on its head, pushing myself back to where Liz was. As well as we were doing, holding back their numbers, they outnumbered us 20 to 1, and it wouldn't be long before we'd get winded and be at their mercy. I really hated that thought.

"Liz." She turned her head to look at me.

"I'm gonna try something. When I give the signal, fire both Ice Beam and Charge Beam at me, if you can do it. Until then, hold them off."

She nodded, turning back to our enemies with a renewed vigor, twirling her staff as she ran straight at a Carnivine, who was preparing to use Bite on her. As the grass-type's mouth descended onto her, she fired a point-blank Ice Beam into its maw, freezing it from the inside. She then proceeded to dispatch the rest with Shadow Ball, firing sphere after sphere of ominous purple energy from her staff.

_I hope this works…_

I took a fighting stance as Liz continued to fend the ferals off as best she could, ignoring the sounds of battle. I cleared my mind, outstretched my arms and felt the surrounding energy, flowing to and fro. I directed the energy into my body, gathering aura inside me. Then I raised one paw and released the energy in the form of an aura tornado, the preparation stages of Vacuum Wave. Just as I had finished preparing the attack, I shouted.

"Liz! Now!"

She halted her onslaught and turned towards me, firing a double helix of yellow and blue energies at the vortex, the energy swirling around and slowly fusing with the vortex's motion. Soon, I was standing within a whirlwind of ice and lightning. Then, I released my control over the tornado. The energy, now free from my grip, naturally flowed back to the surroundings. However, now that it had been corrupted with different elements, it had to be released with a bang. The ensuing circular wave of energy was sent outward in all directions, incapacitating all of the surrounding Pokémon. The ice took care of the grass, bug and rock types, whereas the lightning took care of the water types.

"Wow." Liz remarked, admiring the fallen Pokémon, laying on the floor in the aftermath of our combination attack.

"Yeah. I didn't think it would work, though. Looks like the risk paid off. Now then…" I trailed off, eliciting a questioning sound from Liz.

"Let's get out of here!" I shouted, grabbing Liz by the hand as we hightailed it out of there.

* * *

**Location: Karin Forest-Y, Area V**

"Hah… hah…" I stood with my paws on my knees as I stopped to catch my breath, as Liz used her staff for support, panting heavily as well.

"Why'd we have to run away that quickly, Kai?" She asked, once she was breathing normally again.

"Well… that attack was spread out, so its power wasn't very high. At most it would've knocked them out, not defeated them. If we stayed around for too long, they would've have come at us with a vengeance."

"Ah… I see. Good thing we left the area already, then."

"Finally, the end of the dungeon. I thought this would be a peaceful and calming dungeon run."

"If it were peaceful," Liz said, "then what would be the fun of exploring?"

"Point taken. Now let's get those Oran Berries and get out of here." I replied, as we continued our walk through the dungeon."

_I'm so glad I didn't have to use my sword._

* * *

_A mysterious vision that reenacts a past event,_

_A mysterious truth told through death's descent._

_A mysterious blade summoned through the son of the sky,_

_A mysterious arc seen by no one's eye._

* * *

Hope you guys liked the action that I put in for this filler chapter! And I sincerely hope this was worth the wait. Well, read and review, and wait for the next chapter, the conclusion of the protagonists' time at Zlaize and the beginning of the rest of their journey!

P.S. After the first Act will be the start of the time I'm accepting OCs, so look forward to that!


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